Sao Paulo (Brazil), Nov 8 (IANS) Lando Norris tightened his grip on the lead in the Formula 1 world championship standings with a commanding victory in the Sao Paulo GP Sprint, extending his advantage over teammate Oscar Piastri to nine points, while Max Verstappen lost further ground after finishing fourth.

It was a day of mixed fortunes for McLaren. While Norris delivered a flawless performance from pole to take his first Sprint win of the season, Piastri’s title hopes suffered a heavy blow after a crash in damp conditions at turn three on lap six. Running third at the time, the Australian clipped the inside kerb with his left-front tyre, splashing through standing water before spinning into the barriers.

He was not the only one to fall victim to the tricky conditions — Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg and Alpine’s Franco Colapinto both crashed at the same corner moments later, with Colapinto suffering the heaviest impact.

While Hulkenberg managed to limp his damaged car back to the pits, both Piastri and Colapinto were forced to retire on the spot. The incident triggered a 22-minute red flag period for barrier repairs and car recovery.

Before the stoppage, Norris had made a clean getaway from pole, fending off an early challenge from Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli. After the restart, which took place under a rolling start, Norris once again held firm under pressure from Antonelli, whose Mercedes was fitted with the more durable medium tyres compared to Norris’ softs.

The young Italian kept the pressure on until the chequered flag, but Norris’ composure and tyre management proved decisive as he crossed the line to secure eight valuable points — a perfect response to his teammate’s costly DNF.

Behind them, George Russell delivered a strong performance to finish third, while Verstappen, unable to make much headway from sixth on the grid, had to settle for fourth — meaning Norris now leads the Dutchman by 39 points heading into Sunday’s Grand Prix.

Charles Leclerc recovered well to overtake Fernando Alonso late in the race for fifth, with Lewis Hamilton gaining three places from 11th to finish seventh. Pierre Gasly rounded out the points for Alpine in eighth.

–IANS

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