Sao Paulo GP sprint: Lando Norris wins after McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri gives up position and Max Verstappen takes third | F1 news

Oscar Piastri passed title-chasing Lando Norris to win the sprint and give his McLaren team-mate an extra point in his championship battle against Max Verstappen at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

With Verstappen third – but under investigation behind Piastri for an alleged Virtual Safety Car breach on the final lap – after overtaking Ferrari's Charles Leclerc late on, Norris has the lead over his Red Bull rival in the Drivers' Championship reduced to 45 points before the main race on Sunday – for which the Dutchman received a penalty of five starting places due to an engine change.

After indicating from the sprint pole after qualifying that he was ready to hand over Saturday's victory to Norris, Piastri led the first 21 laps of the race before duly placing Norris in a choreographed position change under the supervision of the McLaren pit wall Back straight from Interlagos.

Verstappen ended up right in Piastri's chase after chasing Leclerc throughout the race and the Red Bull driver eventually overtook the Monegasque several laps earlier.

But Verstappen faces an investigation by stewards ahead of main qualifying at 6pm over an alleged VSC violation, believed to be related to him being right on Piastri's heels when the controlled speed time ended midway through the final lap and he almost overtook McLaren.

Drivers must stick to a controlled time under the VSC, which was called after Nico Hülkenberg's Haas stopped on the side of the track.

While Leclerc had to settle for fourth place after Ferrari's racing pace of recent races failed to deliver as expected, Carlos Sainz finished fifth in the sister car while George Russell finished sixth in the leading Mercedes.

More to come…

The Sao Paulo GP live schedule from Sky Sports F1

Saturday November 2nd
5:00 p.m.: Preparation for qualifying for Sao Paulo
6:00 p.m.: Sao Paulo GP qualification
8:00 p.m.: Ted's Qualification Notebook

Sunday, November 3rd
3.30 p.m.: Grand Prix Sunday: Preparation for the Sao Paulo GP
5:00 p.m.: THE SAO PAULO GRAND PRIX
7 p.m.: Checkered flag: Reaction to the Sao Paulo GP
8 p.m.: Ted's notebook

Formula 1's triple race in America concludes this weekend with the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, with every session broadcast live on Sky Sports F1. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month membership – no contract, cancel anytime