P1racenews AI automatic summary:
A late McLaren swap between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris granted the latter victory in Saturday’s Formula 1 Sprint at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
A retiring Haas late on triggered fears of a Safety Car, prompting McLaren to execute a driver swap on Lap 22 of 24 to grant Norris the win. With Red Bull’s Max Verstappen third, Norris reduced the gap in the Drivers’ standings to 45 points with 112 remaining. It was an all-McLaren front row on Saturday, Piastri ahead of Norris with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Red Bull’s Verstappen on the second row. The question lingering over the grid was whether Piastri would let Norris through amid his title bid. It was a strong start for Piastri, who swept across Norris to lead into Turn 1. Verstappen challenged Leclerc, but the Ferrari man held firm as the top five remained in formation on Lap 1. Haas’ Ollie Bearman had a slow start but quickly recovered to 10th, albeit now behind team-mate Nico Hulkenberg, who lined up in 12th. Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton also lost ground on Lap 1, dropping three places to 14th. The McLarens were able to break a small gap to the following pack in the first few laps of 24, with Verstappen harrying Leclerc to no avail. The buffer was slight at best, however, and four laps in, the top four of Piastri, Norris, Leclerc, and Verstappen were covered by just over two seconds. By Lap 15, that buffer behind Norris to Leclerc grew to 1.5s as a mistake at Turn 1 by Verstappen gave the Ferrari driver a bit of room. Verstappen finally got past Leclerc on Lap 18, using DRS down toward Turn 4 to take third.
