Lando Norris wins with McLaren suspense in Brazil and cuts points from a feisty Max Verstappen

Lando Norris continues to push the Formula 1 world championship. The English driver has won the sprint race in Brazil, although not without suspense, since McLaren has allowed Oscar Piastri to lead a distressing group of four drivers until the penultimate lap, putting Norris’ victory at risk.

The English driver cuts two points compared to a Max Verstappen who shows that without crawling gear he is also capable of minimizing damage. The champion has made a run for his money, enduring Charles Leclerc’s slipstream until he bottomed out and ending up giving the McLarens a real scare at the end.

Fernando Alonso left the pits and took the sprint again as a test

Norris is a little closer to adding a lot of spice to the end of the Formula 1 World Championship. The English driver has won the Interlagos sprint race thanks to a team order in which McLaren has asked Piastri to give him the position on the penultimate lap of the race. Norris remains 45 points behind Verstappen.

Of course, the champion has once again shown that he is outstanding. He managed to get on the sprint podium, and only an inopportune virtual safety car on the penultimate lap prevented him from could give the McLarens a scare at the endespecially that of Piastri, with whom he came to mate.

Verstappen minimizes damage before having to serve a five-place penalty for changing the combustion engine that will probably send him to the middle of the grid on Sunday. Although seeing the speed it has had, it would not be ruled out that Verstappen made a good comeback in the race.

And the Ferraris have sunk in pace. Charles Leclerc came third, ahead of Verstappen and close to the McLaren, but he ran out of wheels and finished fourth, very far behind. For his part, Carlos Sainz is content with a fifth position in no man’s land that invites pessimism for Sunday.

Sixth place for George Russell, also in no man’s land with a Mercedes that remains stuck as fourth car. Although Lewis Hamilton has not even been able to gain a single position. The one who did it is Sergio Pérez, who climbs to eighth position to give Red Bull the last point.

“THERE IS A FRIEND IN ME”

Piastri gives Sprint victory to Norris after the team asked them to swap positions#BrasilDAZNF1 pic.twitter.com/hK5SPJAI3u

— DAZN Spain (@DAZN_ES) November 2, 2024

In between, solid seventh place for Pierre Gasly, who once again puts Alpine very close to Williams in the constructors’ championship. Aston Martin once again took the sprint as a test, with Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll starting from the pits and finishing in the last two positions among those who finished.

Sprint Formula 1 GP Brazil 2024 results

Formula 1 general classification

1st. Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull-HOL), 367 points

2nd. Lando NORRIS (McLaren-GBR), 323 points

3rd. Charles LECLERC (Ferrari-MON), 297 points

4th. Oscar PIASTRI (McLaren-AUS), 258 points

5º. Carlos SAINZ (Ferrari-ESP), 244 points