McLaren’s Lando Norris won Saturday’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix sprint after the team elected for Norris’ teammate, Oscar Piastri, to move out of the lead with two laps to go.
The 24-lap race saw Piastri get a quick jump out to the lead and dominant the event until he was instructed to move over to allow Norris to score the victory, tallying eight crucial points toward the championship.
“Not proud about it but we worked well as a team together so I thank Oscar,” said Norris. “We’ve done a great job as a team. Today was the result that we wanted. Oscar deserved it but we’re doing what we have to do, so I thank him and the team. We had great pace so I’m looking forward to qualifying and the race tomorrow.”Â
Norris’ title rival Max Verstappen crossed the finish line third. However, the Oracle Red Bull Racing driver was relegated to fourth due to a virtual safety car infringement. That allowed Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to place third. Carlos Sainz placed fifth.
The title gap between Verstappen and Norris shrunk to 45 points ahead of Sunday’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix at Autódromo José Carlos Pace.