Norris wins Sao Paulo sprint to cut Verstappen's F1 lead

Sao Paulo (Reuters): Lando Norris cut Max Verstappen's Formula One lead to 44 points after his McLaren team mate Oscar Piastri obeyed orders and gifted the Briton a sprint-race victory in Sao Paulo on Saturday.

Piastri had started on pole position and led until handing over two laps from the end after Red Bull's Verstappen had passed Ferrari's Charles Leclerc for third and became an increasing threat.

The switch came just before a virtual safety car (VSC) period left a tense final lap with Australian Piastri crossing the line 0.593 behind Norris in a one-two finish.

Verstappen finished third, 0.904 further adrift, but was handed a five-second penalty for a VSC infringement that dropped him back behind Leclerc. The triple champion was also given a penalty point.

"Oscar drove well and he deserved the win today. I’m not proud of winning a sprint race or any race like this, so I thank Oscar and the team," said Norris, who started second on the grid.

"But it’s our objective, it’s what we have to work towards as a team. We get the points in the constructors’ and I get the points in the drivers’. That’s our target."

Piastri's race engineer thanked the Australian, who is out of title contention, over the radio for his "massive support to the team".

McLaren are now 34 points clear of Ferrari in the constructors' standings after a gain of five.

Verstappen and Leclerc had a lively battle for third before the Red Bull overtook on the 18th of 24 laps and Nico Hulkenberg then triggered the virtual safety car by stopping by the side of the track in a smouldering Haas on lap 21.

It was the first time this season that Verstappen has been beaten in a sprint and he will also have a five-place grid penalty for Sunday's race due to exceeding his engine allocation.

Ferrari's Carlos Sainz was fifth, with George Russell sixth for Mercedes and Pierre Gasly seventh for Renault-owned Alpine while Mexican Sergio Perez secured the final point in eighth for Red Bull ahead of RB's Liam Lawson.

The main Sao Paulo Grand Prix is on Sunday, with qualifying later on Saturday.

The race started with all drivers on the medium tyre and Piastri leading Norris away with Leclerc holding on to third place.

Piastri showed no sign of moving aside, despite Norris saying over the radio that he was close and then sounding impatient.

"I'm not sure what we're doing here, mate," he said after slipping out of DRS range. "I thought we spoke about this."

Piastri was told on lap 10 to give Norris, under threat from Leclerc, a drag reduction tow and McLaren then informed both drivers on lap 16 that they were happy to hold position until the last lap.

The danger of a virtual safety car putting Verstappen right on their tail changed that position.

"Ideally, you would do it earlier but the situation never materialised for this being done in a safe situation," said team boss Andrea Stella.

"Because as soon as you swap you would have the guy in the third that has the possibility to overtake a McLaren, and this wouldn’t fit our principle that the team result comes first."