Verstappen under investigation after Norris claims Brazilian sprint win

Lando Norris had McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri to thank for scoring a São Paulo sprint victory.

Norris had to wait until lap 22 of 24 for Piastri, who had led from pole position, to move aside and allow his McLaren team-mate to take the lead, and onto the chequered flag, albeit it was not without a degree of consternation.

With Red Bull's Max Verstappen third, Norris has now closed the lead again on the Dutchman at the top of the drivers' standings to 45 points.

Piastri was congratulated over the radio at the end for the role he had played, but the disappointment in his voice was apparent as he knew the win should have been his.

For McLaren, it is the team's first one-two in a sprint since the concept was introduced, and has increased their lead at the top of the constructors' championship over Ferrari to 35 points as Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were fourth and fifth.

Verstappen, meanwhile, is under investigation for a VSC infringement late in the race.

The stewards have since delivered their verdict since the original publication of this report. Click here

Late VSC creates added spive

From an all-McLaren front row, spearheaded by Piastri, the Australian produced the perfect launch, maintaining his advantage on the short run down to Turn 1.

That forced Norris into defensive mode, as directly behind the Briton, Verstappen had also made a good start. But into the first corner, the three-time F1 champion suffered a front-left lock-up. Through the Senna S, Verstappen had to then fend off Leclerc.

Once the DRS was open, and on lap three, in particular, Leclerc came under attack from Verstappen into Turns 1 and 4, but the Monégasque did enough to keep his rival at bay.

On lap six, Verstappen produced the fastest lap of the race, and had another run at Leclerc into Turn 7, but again fell short.

A lap later, Norris radioed through to his team, stating, "I'm not sure what I'm doing here. I thought we spoke about this", clearly suggesting that he felt Piastri should have ceded the lead by that stage given the circumstances.

A small error from Norris, however, on lap seven allowed Leclerc to pull in close, but not enough to allow him to attack.

Soon after, Piastri was instructed to "give Lando DRS", allowing the top four drivers to be covered by just under two seconds at the halfway stage of 12 laps.

On lap 13, though, Norris managed to create a small buffer to Leclerc, but Piastri offered no suggestion he would give up the lead. Instead, Verstappen again managed to get within touching distance of Leclerc, but again, fell just shy of making a move.

The critical factor for this race, given the rising track temperature that was just shy of 50 degrees as the race started, was whether the medium tyres would go the distance, and the management required to get them to the chequered flag.

Many drivers had to lift and coast to try and keep the tyre temperatures in an optimum operating range.

On lap 16, Norris' engineer, Will Joseph, informed Norris that with the small gap to Leclerc, the team was happy to hold the positions until the final lap.

The situation between the McLarens was compromised, however, when Verstappen finally managed to clear Leclerc on the run into Turn 4. With six laps remaining, the gap between Norris and Verstappen was 1.555s.

On lap 22, McLaren conjured the vital switch, with Norris claiming the lead from Piastri between Turns 3 and 4. It was a crucial call as Haas' Nico Hulkenberg had parked his car off track, leading to a VSC.

The VSC ended just as Verstappen was looking to attack Piastri for second into Turn 4. The Dutchman is under investigation for a VSC infringement.

Behind the leading quartet, Sainz was a distant and lonely fifth to team-mate Leclerc, with the Spaniard followed by George Russell in his Mercedes, and Alpine's Pierre Gasly.

From a dismal 13th on the grid, Sergio Perez conjured a superb drive to claim the final point with eighth, with RB's Liam Lawson and Williams' Alex Albon completing the top 10.