Norris wins Brazilian Grand Prix sprint race, widens lead over Piastri to 9 points

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SAO PAULO (AP) — Lando Norris won Saturday's sprint race at the Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix and widened his lead in the drivers' championship race to nine points after his teammate and main rival Oscar Piastri failed to finish the 24 laps at the historic and partially wet Interlagos track.

Norris, who started in pole position, added eight points and now has 365 in the standings. Piastri, who spun in the surroundings of turn 3 and crashed onto the wall — as did Alpine's Franco Colapinto and Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg – remains with 356 ahead of Sunday's race.

Qualifying will take place later at Interlagos.

The McLaren driver finished ahead of Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli and George Russell in a sprint race that was also marked by crashes, including a hard hit of Sauber's home-crowd favorite Gabriel Bortoleto onto the wall in the final lap.

Antonelli finished only 0.845 second behind Norris after the McLaren driver lost some of his lead due to soft tires.

“Kimi certainly wasn't making my life easier,” Norris said after the sprint race. “Definitely not an easy race, always expect a difficult one in Brazil.”

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen ended in 4th position and shook his head in disappointment after crossing the line. He added another five to his tally and now has 326.

Ferrari cars failed to impress at the sprint race, with Charles LeClerc and Lewis Hamilton finishing in 5th and 7th positions, respectively.

Norris is coming off a win in Mexico City.

For the sprint pole, Norris beat Antonelli by only 0.097 seconds and Piastri was just 0.185s behind.

Piastri has struggled lately; he’s winless in five races and has not reached the podium since Monza in Italy two months ago when he finished third.

The incidents involving Piastri, Colapinto and Hulkenberg caused a red flag in lap 6, which allowed Norris to switch his tires to soft and secure a commanding position for most of the remaining sprint race.

Verstappen, who aims to become the fourth driver to win five world titles, knows how to win in Brazil after victories in 2019, 2023 and 2024, when he fought from 17th at the start.

Rain is expected toward the end of Saturday and throughout Sunday. A year ago, the qualifying was canceled and moved to Sunday due to torrential downpours.

After his accident, Bortoleto said he was ok on team radio, but Sauber confirmed he would undergo medical examinations as a precaution.

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing