LANDO NORRIS WINS CHAOTIC SÃO PAULO SPRINT AS ANTONELLI CHALLENGES LATE
Lando Norris won a chaotic Sprint race at the São Paulo Grand Prix. The McLaren driver kept Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli behind him in constantly changing track conditions. Norris’s teammate, Oscar Piastri, crashed early after touching a wet kerb, and Nico Hülkenberg and Franco Colapinto slid off at the same place just moments later.
The race was stopped to clear the wreckage. When it restarted, Norris stayed in front, but in the final laps his soft tyres began to wear out, allowing Antonelli to close in. A late crash for Gabriel Bortoleto brought out double yellow flags, freezing the running order and helping Norris keep the lead by only 0.845 seconds.
George Russell finished third for Mercedes. Max Verstappen came fourth, picking up important points for his championship fight. Charles Leclerc finished fifth after overtaking Fernando Alonso near the end. Lewis Hamilton and Pierre Gasly took seventh and eighth.
Qualifying the day before had given Norris pole for the 100-kilometre Sprint. Antonelli started just behind him, with Piastri and Russell lining up third and fourth. Verstappen qualified only sixth, and both Ferraris struggled.
Before the Sprint, the track was still damp in places after earlier rain. Most drivers started on medium tyres, but Antonelli, Russell, Verstappen, Leclerc, Isack Hadjar and Alex Albon chose softs. Yuki Tsunoda and Carlos Sainz started from the pit lane after making changes to their cars.
At the start, Norris launched well and kept the lead. Antonelli came under pressure from Piastri but held second. Verstappen quickly passed Alonso for fifth, and Hamilton moved up to eighth. Further back, Ollie Bearman collided with Liam Lawson, earning both drivers time penalties later.
Four laps in, Norris had built a gap of nearly 1.5 seconds. But on lap 6 the calm ended when Piastri slid into the wall at Turn 3. With water dragged onto the track, Hülkenberg and Colapinto also went off at the same place. A red flag stopped the race so the cars and damaged barriers could be cleared.
After repairs, the Sprint restarted with 15 laps to go. Everyone had changed tyres during the stoppage. Norris again pulled away cleanly, while Russell tried to attack Antonelli but couldn’t get through. Alonso fought Verstappen for fourth but had to fall back, then came under pressure from Leclerc.
As the track dried, Norris started to struggle on his soft tyres. Antonelli closed in, cutting the gap to less than half a second by lap 20. Behind them, Leclerc finally passed Alonso for fifth, and Hamilton closed in on the Aston Martin.
On the final lap, Antonelli kept chasing, but Bortoleto crashed heavily, bringing out double yellows and stopping any overtaking. Norris crossed the line first, earning a nine-point lead over Piastri in the championship.
Antonelli finished second, Russell third, followed by Verstappen, Leclerc, Alonso, Hamilton and Gasly. Stroll and Hadjar just missed out on points. Several drivers were shuffled in the final standings due to earlier penalties. Bortoleto, Piastri and Colapinto were the only retirees after their crashes.
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