Lando Norris celebrates a start-finish victory in the Formula 1 sprint race in Brazil. An early accident involving Oscar Piastri shifts the world championship duel further in the Briton's favor. The two Sauber drivers also end up in the barriers.
08.11.2025, 16:46
08.11.2025, 16:57
dpa
Lando Norris has extended his championship lead with a victory in the Formula 1 sprint race in Brazil, also benefiting from an early accident involving his closest title rival Oscar Piastri. The Briton took a start-finish victory in the McLaren in São Paulo ahead of the Mercedes duo Kimi Antonelli and George Russell.
Piastri retired after just a few laps following a driving error and is now nine points behind Norris in the overall standings. Defending champion Max Verstappen finished fourth in the Red Bull, with the Dutchman 39 points off the lead. The four-time champion already has the chance to close the gap again on Sunday at the 21st of the 24 Grand Prix of the year.
Piastri spins off the track
Norris easily defended the lead at the start. Antonelli had chosen the softer tire in the hope of gaining an advantage, but was unable to attack the world championship leader. There were no position changes directly behind him either: Piastri in the second McLaren drove through the first corners in third ahead of Russell in the Mercedes and Verstappen.
There had been rain showers in the morning, but the track increasingly dried out in time for the sprint. However, water was still building up in some places, which proved to be Piastri's undoing after five laps. The Australian drove over the damp kerbs and promptly spun off the track.
Race control interrupts the sprint
A similar mishap also befell Sauber driver Nico Hülkenberg and Franco Colapinto in the Alpine at the same spot. The race was over for Piastri and Colapinto, their cars were too badly damaged after hitting the barriers.
Race control decided to interrupt the race and all the drivers lined up in the pit lane. At the rolling restart, Mercedes teammates Antonelli and Russell as well as Verstappen and veteran Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin engaged in close duels without swapping places.
The action then calmed down somewhat. Norris kept pursuer Antonelli at bay, raced to his second victory in the fifth sprint of the season and scored another eight points on his way to the world championship title.
Gabriel Bortoleto's horror crash ends in a minor way
On the last lap, Sauber driver Gabriel Bortoleto also suffered a heavy impact. He lost control of his car on the start-finish straight and hit the wall. Bortoleto was able to get out of his car without serious injury. It was also extremely fortunate that he did not collide with any of his rivals during his uncontrolled departure.