Motorsport

Lando Norris takes the points but ‘not proud’ of sprint success in Sao Paulo

The Briton took two points out of Max Verstappen’s championship lead with the victory.

Lando Norris shakes hands with Max Verstappen in Sao Paulo (Andre Penner/AP)
Lando Norris shakes hands with Max Verstappen in Sao Paulo (Andre Penner/AP) (Andre Penner/AP)
By Philip Duncan, PA F1 Correspondent, Sao Paulo

Lando Norris admitted he did not deserve to win Saturday’s sprint race in Brazil which allowed him to take another three points out of Max Verstappen’s championship lead.

Pole man Oscar Piastri led from the front before he obeyed a McLaren team order to allow Norris to take the victory on lap 22 of 24 in Interlagos.

Norris’ triumph takes him 44 points behind Verstappen, who started fourth and improved to third, with 132 points still available.

However, Verstappen was later handed a five-second time penalty for a Virtual Safety Car infringement, dropping him back to fourth.

After Piastri covered off Norris on the downhill run to the opening corner, the attention turned to when the Australian would be ushered out of his team-mate’s way.

The instruction finally arrived with two laps remaining as Piastri provided Norris with room ahead of the fourth corner to complete the move.

“I am not proud of it,” said Norris. “Oscar deserved it (the win) but we did what we had to do, so I thank him and the team.

“We are fighting for the constructors’ championship, and fighting for the drivers’ championship. And we want to help the team achieve both of those goals.

“From a driver’s point of view, I am not proud to win a race like I did today. We want to avoid it as much as we can.

“But we both signed up for this. We work as a team, we get told to do, we both have a boss, and we work as hard as we can to help each other.”

Oscar Piastri, bottom, led McLaren team-mate Lando Norris for much of the Brazilian Grand Prix sprint race (Ettore Chiereguini/AP)
Oscar Piastri, bottom, led McLaren team-mate Lando Norris for much of the Brazilian Grand Prix sprint race (Ettore Chiereguini/AP) (Ettore Chiereguini/AP)

Piastri added: “It is not as fun as winning but I know the position we are in. We have been talking about this for months and this is the first time we have had to enforce it.

“I would have preferred to have won but it is a sprint race and I don’t have much to fight for in the drivers’ standings. We knew this could, and probably would happen, and I am fine with it.”

After beating Norris to pole by just 0.029 seconds, Piastri kept his McLaren team-mate at arm’s length at the start. Then the dialogue between pit-wall and drivers began as to when the move would be orchestrated.

With Norris failing to draw clear of third-placed Charles Leclerc, the decision was taken to trade positions on the final lap. But McLaren’s hand was forced two laps earlier than planned with a Virtual Safety Car – which does not allow overtaking – set to be deployed after Nico Hulkenberg broke down in his Haas.

McLaren also had Verstappen to contend with after he swatted Leclerc aside for third with six laps to go. The Dutchman took a lunge at Piastri on the final lap but the McLaren man held firm.

Verstappen was then hauled in front of the stewards for an infringement under the VSC. Verstappen, who already has to serve a five-place grid penalty for Sunday’s main event after taking on a new combustion engine, was hit with a post-race time penalty, dropping him behind Leclerc.

Verstappen was adjudged to have gained an advantage by re-starting the race closer to Piastri than he should have.

Carlos Sainz finished fifth in the sprint race, one place ahead of George Russell. Lewis Hamilton started 11th and finished 11th in the other Mercedes.

Qualifying for Sunday’s 71-lap Grand Prix will take place at 15:00 local time (18:00 GMT).