Sao Paulo GP: Lando Norris wins thrilling race to extend championship lead as Oscar Piastri struggles to fifth | F1 News

Lando Norris won a thrilling Sao Paulo Grand Prix to take command of the Formula 1 title battle as Oscar Piastri struggled to fifth.

Norris superbly controlled the race from pole position to complete a perfect weekend – in which he also won Saturday’s Sprint at Interlagos – to extend his title-race lead over his McLaren team-mate Piastri to 24 points with three rounds remaining.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen produced a stunning comeback after a pit-lane start but was denied second place by Kimi Antonelli in a thrilling finale as the Mercedes driver claimed the best result of his rookie campaign.

Despite his superb performance, Verstappen dropped 49 points behind Norris to leave his hopes of claiming a fifth successive drivers’ title all but over.

Norris said: “It’s a great win, but seeing how quick Max was, it’s disappointing we were not quicker. That’s where my mind is at the minute. I will see the team, congratulate them, and see why we were not quick enough.

“There’s a long way to go. It can change so quickly. I will focus on myself, keep my head down, ignore everyone and keep pushing.”

Piastri, who crashed out of Saturday’s Sprint, continued the streak of errors that has resulted in his 34-point championship lead becoming a significant deficit as he made an over-ambitious attempt to pass Antonelli at the restart after an early Safety Car sending the Mercedes into Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari.

Piastri was given a 10-second time penalty for causing the turn-one collision, which left him having to fight his way back through the field.

The Australian was also denied an additional place in the closing stages as George Russell held onto fourth for Mercedes, with a strong weekend for the Silver Arrows taking them 32 points clear of Red Bull in the battle for second in the Constructors’ Championship behind McLaren, who have already sealed the title.

A disastrous day for Ferrari left them a further four points back from Red Bull as Leclerc was forced to retire after losing a wheel in the collision caused by Piastri, while Lewis Hamilton also failed to finish as damage suffered in a collision with Carlos Sainz at the start eventually resulted in his retirement.

British rookie Oliver Bearman backed up his career-best fourth-placed finish last time out in Mexico with another superb result as he claimed sixth for Haas.

Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar finished seventh and eighth, respectively, for Racing Bulls, while Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly rounded out the points positions.

Norris maintains momentum with faultless display

Norris came into Sunday’s race full of confidence having dominated the weekend’s other competitive sessions off the back of a superb victory at the Mexico City Grand Prix two weeks ago, which gave him a one-point title lead.

His challenge to maintain his momentum at Interlagos was heightened by drizzle falling for much of the hour or so before the race, creating slippery conditions and a little extra jeopardy at the start.

However, the Brit once more exhibited the huge improvements he has made with his race starts to comfortably pull clear of Antonelli off the line, allowing him time and space to pick his line through the opening corners.

His skillset would be tested once more when an early Safety Car sent out to allow the recovery of Gabriel Bortoleto’s Sauber meant a rolling restart was required.

Norris once more judged it perfectly as he pulled far enough clear to be out of range when the three-car collision between Piastri, Antonelli and Leclerc occurred behind him.

From that moment on, Norris claiming victory never appeared in doubt as he built an advantage over Antonelli and then calmly managed his tyres to maintain it.

He twice gave up the lead when making pit stops, but swiftly regained it on both occasions before taking the chequered flag 10 seconds clear of the battle between Antonelli and Verstappen.

After claiming back-to-back victories for just the second time this season, Norris has now finished ahead of Piastri for six successive races since his retirement with a reliability issue at the Dutch Grand Prix in late August.

Piastri has ‘no regrets’ after latest error

As for Piastri, the consistency he had shown up until the Dutch Grand Prix victory that took him 34 points clear of Norris had convinced most he would ease to the title.

Instead, he has unravelled with a series of errors that began with crashes in both qualifying and the race in Azerbaijan. Further mistakes followed in the Austin and Sao Paulo Sprints, before the very risky move that backfired on Sunday.

While Piastri did need to grasp any opportunities that came his way, his lunge up the inside of Antonelli and Leclerc was risky and could have easily resulted in coming away without any points.

The incident split opinion, with Leclerc disagreeing with the stewards’ assessment that Piastri was “wholly responsible” for the collision and suggesting Antonelli could have done more to avoid the incident.

Asked by Sky Sports F1 if he had any regrets over the incident, Piastri said: “No, I don’t think so.

“I had a very clear opportunity, I went for it. The other two on the outside braked quite late. There was obviously a bit of a lock-up into the corner but that’s because I could see Kimi was not going to give me any space.

“I can’t disappear but the decision is what it is.”

Piastri fought back with admirable spirit, but the fact he couldn’t follow Verstappen past Russell in the closing stages reflected a continued lack of pace that makes it hard to see how he can reignite his challenge over the remaining three rounds.

Verstappen’s title quest fades in thrilling fashion

After a Red Bull resurgence that had seen Verstappen make an unlikely surge back into the title race after the summer break, it came as a major surprise on Saturday when the Dutchman suffered his first Q1 exit since 2021.

The team took the decision to install a new power unit and make other changes to Verstappen’s car which meant he had to start from the pit lane, and the consensus in the paddock ahead of the race was that it was unlikely he’d be able to threaten the front-runners.

Instead, he produced a stirring drive featuring a highlight reel of overtakes to get in amongst the front-runners, before chasing down Russell with a barnstorming final stint to get onto the podium for a seventh successive grand prix.

He very nearly went one better as he closed to Antonelli’s rear wing for the final couple of laps, but the Italian rookie just about withstood the attack.

As he had done after qualifying, Verstappen reiterated that he considers his title challenge to be over.

“We lost already way too many points in the beginning of the season to the middle of the season,” he told Sky Sports F1.

“That we were in that up until now already was quite a surprise, but we have to be realistic, over the whole season we haven’t been good enough.

“But we will still try everything we can until the end of the season to score some highlights and try to win races, that’s what we are here for.”

Formula 1’s thrilling title race continues with the Las Vegas Grand Prix on November 21-23, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime