Both McLarens got away well from the front row of the grid, but Oscar Piastri was able to cover off his teammate into the first corner to maintain his lead. Max Verstappen had a scary moment into the first corner, locking up on the inside and very nearly hitting his championship rival Lando Norris. This allowed Charles Leclerc to keep P3, which was critical for the race.
The two McLaren drivers began to create a gap to the rest of the field. Norris begged for a driver swap, citing the team’s discussions before the race. But Piastri didn’t let him by and Norris fell out of DRS range on lap seven.
This put him under pressure from Leclerc and Verstappen behind, with Verstappen still fighting hard to try and get by the Ferrari. Seeing the pressure, the McLaren pit wall instructed Piastri to slow and give Norris DRS. This worked to drag Norris out of Leclerc’s DRS range within only a few laps.
After 18 laps of pushing, Verstappen was finally able to get by a defenceless Leclerc down the Reta Oposta straight. This unleashed him to chase down the McLaren drivers ahead, slowly eating away at the gap as the laps ticked down. McLaren still refused to swap their two drivers, despite Norris being closest to challenge Verstappen in the World Drivers’ Championship.
With only three laps remaining in the race, Nico Hulkenberg stopped at the side of the circuit. This Haas had been spotted smoking slightly a couple of laps prior. Race control was reluctant to intervene, only throwing yellow flags in the second sector. McLaren used this delay to swap their drivers, giving Norris the lead just moments before the virtual safety car was deployed.
The VSC ended as the leaders reached turn four on the final lap. Verstappen tried to perfectly time the end of the VSC to make a dive on the inside of Piastri in the fourth corner but wasn’t able to do so. He was noted by the stewards at the end of the race for a safety car violation, meaning there will be some post-race action in the stewards’ office later in the day.
With no more overtaking opportunities available, McLaren finished the sprint race in 1-2 with Lando Norris leading the way. Oscar Piastri finished in P2 alongside Max Verstappen.
The sprint race is only the beginning of this weekend. There will be another feature-length race tomorrow around the Interlagos Circuit.
UPDATE: Max Verstappen was awarded a five-second time penalty for exceeding the virtual safety car delta by 0.63s when it ended. This drops him to P4, promoting Charles Leclerc to the podium. This incident also adds a penalty points to Verstappen’s super license, bringing his 12-month total to 7.
| 1 | M. Verstappen | 367 |  | |
| 2 | L. Norris | 323 | -44 | |
| 3 | C. Leclerc | 297 | -70 | |
| 4 | O. Piastri | 258 | -109 | |
| 5 | C. Sainz | 244 | -123 | |
| 1 | McLaren | 581 | | |
| 2 | Ferrari | 547 | -34 | |
| 3 | Red Bull | 518 | -63 | |
| 4 | Mercedes | 369 | -212 | |
| 5 | Aston Martin | 86 | -495 | |
