Norris clips more off Verstappen’s title lead after sprint win

AFP | Sao Paulo                                                

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Lando Norris trimmed two points off Max Verstappen’s lead in Formula One’s drivers’ world championship after claiming victory ahead of his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri in the sprint race at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

The title-chasing Briton took the lead on lap 22 of the 24-lap race, when Piastri swapped positions with him before fending off the challenge of three-time champion Verstappen in his Red Bull.

Norris, 24, came home 0.593 seconds clear of Piastri who finished 1.5 seconds ahead of the Dutchman with Charles Leclerc finishing fourth.

Norris admitted he was fortunate to collect his first career sprint race win. “I’m not proud of it, but it worked well and as a team we had a good day -– and thanks to Oscar,” said Norris.

“He deserved to win, but it was good team work and we had great pace. And we executed it well.”

Verstappen leads Norris by 45 points with four races including Sunday’s to come -- and one sprint -- and it could get worse for the Dutch driver. At the finish Verstappen -- who will start with a five-place grid penalty -- was noted for an infringement of the Virtual Safety Car (VSC) rules.

“It was a tricky race,” said Verstappen.