Piastri gives Norris the sprint victory, Verstappen is under investigation

Lando Norris won the 2024 Brazilian Formula 1 sprint race after swapping positions with teammate Oscar Piastri late at Interlagos – but Max Verstappen almost ruined McLaren's one-two.

When the lights went out, Piastri led from pole and immediately went inside the Esses to defend against his teammate Norris.

Behind him, Verstappen tried to get past the inside of Leclerc but got stuck at the exit of Turn 1.

A long race for third place then followed – but the sprint was characterized by a bitter battle for the lead between the two Papaya cars.

Norris would ultimately win this battle on the team's orders, while Piastri, despite seemingly defiant for most of the race, settled for second place after swapping positions on the straight to Turn 4 on lap 22 of 24 had.

Verstappen had snatched third place from Leclerc on lap 18 and as McLaren swapped positions, the Dutchman put Piastri under pressure to take second place.

The virtual safety car was then deployed, giving Piastri a brief respite – but the race only lasted one lap to the finish line.

Piastri held on by just under a second and secured 15 points for McLaren on Saturday.

After the race, it emerged that Verstappen was held responsible for a possible VSC breach – as he may have exceeded the pace delta in the late pursuit of Piastri.

How the exciting McLaren battle developed

Piastri's dive inside on the first lap to defend the lead from Norris was perhaps a sign of things to come.

At the end of the first lap the McLarens were out of DRS range, followed by Leclerc and then Verstappen.

“Yes, I’m close,” Norris soon said over the radio. He wanted Piastri to swap places.

“I thought we had talked about it,” was Norris' next plea over the radio as he struggled in the dirty Piastri air and fell out of his DRS range.

On lap seven, Norris was in Leclerc's DRS clutches, while Verstappen also had DRS in his sights – and this is where the championship contender was most vulnerable.

“Give Lando DRS” was McLaren's next order: not an explicit request to swap places, but a ploy to give Norris a little more speed while Leclerc and Verstappen were in pursuit.

“Given the gap to Leclerc, we are happy to hold these positions until the last lap if we can,” was the next message from Norris' race engineer Will Joseph over the pit wall.

“Yes, I will overtake,” replied a defiant Norris shortly afterwards.

This explosive situation was resolved on lap 22, with two laps to go, when Piastri slowed down the straight at Turn 4 and let Norris pass.

However, this meant that Piastri fell directly into the clutches of Verstappen.

However, McLaren's blushes were saved when the VSC was substituted for the stationary Haas of Nico Hulkenberg, which had stalled downhill on the Esses due to a suspected emissions problem.

The VSC was overturned with less than a lap to go and it looked like Verstappen had beaten Piastri, but he held off the Dutchman to secure the one-two.

Verstappen was then at the mercy of the sports commissioners.

Ferrari and Mercedes out of the fight

Leclerc was almost defenseless against Verstappen, but even more worrying was Ferrari's relative lack of speed, with Carlos Sainz eliminated from the top battle in fifth.

Mercedes were also struggling, with George Russell a further five seconds behind Sainz in sixth place. His teammate Lewis Hamilton lost three places at the start and ended up back where he started in 11th behind Alex Albon.

Pierre Gasly was quick for Alpine in seventh place and Sergio Perez beat his recent rival Liam Lawson to take the final point in eighth place.

The Mexican rider made a late retirement against Lawson on lap 15, but stalled and Lawson reclaimed eighth place. However, Perez recovered to give Red Bull the final point, leaving Lawson ninth.

Haas appeared to be in contention for points before Perez's recovery, but Ollie Bearman lost places at the end of the race, finishing 14th behind Esteban Ocon and Franco Colapinto.

Aston Martin also had a tough race as both cars started in the pit lane (due to parc ferme changes). Fernando Alonso was 18th, behind fellow Sauber pit starter Zhou Guanyu, while Lance Stroll was the last to take the checkered flag in 19th.