Norris Secures Sprint Win as McLaren Dominate Brazil

McLaren’s decisive strategy clinched a one-two finish in Brazil, leaving Verstappen frustrated with delayed team orders for third place.

The São Paulo Grand Prix, largely funded by the city, will see its first points awarded to the top eight drivers in Saturday’s F1 Sprint, taking place in the afternoon French time.

McLaren F1 capitalised in Sprint Qualifying, securing the front row with Oscar Piastri leading teammate Lando Norris. The Australian has already indicated his willingness to let his teammate take the win if it helps secure an extra point.

Just behind, Charles Leclerc starts third ahead of Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz, and George Russell. Pierre Gasly and Liam Lawson sit on the fourth row, followed by Alex Albon and Oliver Bearman. The top 10 grid spots feature drivers from eight different teams.

Lewis Hamilton follows, with Nico Hülkenberg, Sergio Pérez, and Franco Colapinto behind him. Valtteri Bottas starts 15th, ahead of Esteban Ocon and Yuki Tsunoda. Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, who qualified 16th and 19th respectively, will start from the pits as Aston Martin opted to continue work on their setups. Guanyu Zhou, who qualified last, also starts from the pits.

14:53: The air temperature sits at 28 degrees, and despite some cloud cover, track temperatures have climbed to 46 degrees.

14:58: All drivers have opted for medium tyres, a logical choice given the hot track surface.

Start: A strong start from Piastri, who closes the door on challengers, while Verstappen attempts to pass Leclerc but is blocked by the Monegasque.

Lap 1: Hülkenberg has made an excellent start, moving up to ninth ahead of Bearman. Albon is 11th, just ahead of Pérez, while Hamilton drops three places.

Lap 2: Piastri and Norris have already pushed Leclerc beyond the one-second mark. Verstappen attempts a move on Leclerc but is unsuccessful. Pérez takes 11th place from Albon.

Lap 3: Piastri clocks the fastest lap with a 1:12.366, immediately bested by Norris with a 1:12.274. The Briton is half a second behind his teammate, and 1.5 seconds ahead of Leclerc, who has defended against two attacks from Verstappen.

Lap 4: Leclerc sets the fastest lap at 1:11.914, closing to within a second of Norris. No further positional changes reported. Alonso and Stroll remain in 18th and 19th, behind Tsunoda, Bottas, and Ocon, who holds 15th.

Lap 5: Norris closes to within half a second, informing his team over the radio, “I’m close.” Sainz has dropped back, now three seconds behind Verstappen.

Lap 6: Still no team orders from McLaren, with Leclerc maintaining a one-second gap to Norris.

Lap 7: Verstappen clocks the fastest lap with a 1:11.906, closing in on Leclerc. The lead pack of four drivers is separated by less than 2.5 seconds.

Lap 8: Norris expresses frustration: “I don’t know what I’m doing here. We talked about this.” His engineer replies, “Just keep doing what you’re doing,” leaving the driver disheartened: “Yeah, whatever.”

Lap 9: The situation becomes tricky for McLaren as Leclerc closes to within half a second of Norris, with Piastri extending his lead to over a second. Pérez overtakes Hülkenberg to claim tenth.

Lap 10: Norris narrows the gap to his teammate to six-tenths, but he’s brought Leclerc and Verstappen closer as well. The leading four are now within two seconds. Piastri receives instructions to offer Norris DRS support. Meanwhile, Bearman moves past Hülkenberg for tenth place.

Lap 11: Piastri pulls over a second clear of Norris, who now feels the presence of both Leclerc and Verstappen right behind him.

Lap 13: Norris closes in on Piastri and re-establishes over a one-second buffer from Leclerc, who makes an error and faces a challenge from Verstappen. Leclerc defends, giving McLaren a potential opening to issue team orders.

Lap 14: Leclerc returns to within a second of Norris, but McLaren still holds off on team orders. Verstappen complains about Leclerc’s errors, which are slowing both of them compared to the McLarens.

Lap 15: Alonso overtakes Stroll for 18th place, with both Aston Martin drivers still trapped behind a Stake car.

Lap 16: Norris continues to post quicker laps than Piastri, but McLaren remains inactive despite Leclerc holding steady at 1.3 seconds back. McLaren appears intent on maintaining the current positions until the final lap.

Lap 17: Growing impatient, Norris announces he’s going to make the pass. He informs the team that he won’t wait until the final lap to take the lead, especially as McLaren has indicated that Leclerc is far enough back to permit a switch in positions.

Lap 18: Piastri sets the fastest lap with a 1:11.783, pushing Norris back to nine-tenths. Verstappen has overtaken Leclerc and is now 1.3 seconds behind Norris.

Lap 19: Piastri and Norris are separated by 1.5 seconds, while Verstappen matches the McLarens’ pace. There is surprise that McLaren hasn’t yet executed a position swap, especially with Norris’s rival now directly behind him.

Lap 20: Pérez overtakes Lawson to claim the final points position in eighth.

Lap 21: There’s a one-second gap between the two McLarens, with Verstappen gaining on Norris. Hülkenberg’s car has come to a halt due to a breakdown, stuck at the trackside! If a safety car is deployed, McLaren might lose the opportunity to change positions.

Lap 22: A yellow flag is issued for now, and McLaren seizes the moment to let Norris through ahead of a potential safety car deployment. Verstappen, now very close, draws near to Piastri but can’t quite make the pass. Norris leads, with Piastri second and Verstappen in third!

Lap 23: A virtual safety car is activated on this penultimate lap, freezing the positions of the leading trio.

Final Lap: The race restarts! Norris retains the lead, while Verstappen makes a bid to overtake Piastri on the straight before Turn 4. Piastri brakes late, and Verstappen hesitates, unable to complete the move. Verstappen then lines up behind Piastri for the final uphill push but remains just out of reach.

Finish: Norris clinches victory in the Brazilian Sprint, marking the first of his career. He scores eight points, gaining two on Verstappen, who finishes third behind Piastri. Leclerc and Sainz follow, with Ferrari losing six points to McLaren. Russell finishes sixth, ahead of Gasly, whose performance brings Alpine within a point of Williams! Pérez rounds out the top eight.

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McLaren Strategy Triumphs; Verstappen Settles for Third McLaren Strategy Triumphs; Verstappen Settles for Third. f1 2024 McLaren Strategy Triumphs; Verstappen Settles for Third