Formula 1 News: Norris wins Sao Paulo GP Sprint Race, Piastri crashes

On a partially wet track, but in the superior McLaren, Lando Norris (pictured leading) led all 24 laps from pole to win the Sao Paulo GP at Interlagos and put his stamp on the 2025 title.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

Perhaps most important for Norris, his teammate Oscar Piastri in the other superior McLaren clipped the curb in Turn 3 with his left front tire and crashed out of third place.  Norris was ahead of Piastri by 1 point, but after the Sprint Race the margin is now a crucial 9 points.

“It was tough. Makes the win a bit more rewarding, especially with Kimi here not making my life easier. It was sketchy, I had a couple of near misses – the wind was tricky and the degradation on the tyres… I expected us to be a little better, so we have some homework to do,” said Norris.

Kimi Antonelli finished where he started in his Mercedes, in second, only 0.845s behind Norris.

“Was a very fun race, tricky conditions at the beginning,” added Antonelli. “We tried to keep the pressure on Lando, and came up just short. The confidence is high, but the field is so tight. We’ll see today what we can do.”

George Russell was third in the #63 Mercedes, 2s behind Norris.

“It was a good race for us both, Kimi did a great job putting Lando under pressure – but we need to do the same this afternoon, Qualifying is so tight,” said Russell.

“We feel good, the temperatures are cool and we know that is how we like it so let’s see what we can do later.”

Max Verstappen, his RB21 dog bouncing like a kangaroo, manhandled the Red Bull from 6th on the grid, to finish 4th, 4.4s behind Norris.

Fernando Alonso had a great battle with the two Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton for 5th place until lap 22 when he locked his brakes and Leclerc was through.

On the last lap, Gabriel Bortoleto dove low under braking into Turn 1 trying to pass the Williams of Alex Albon, hit the outside barrier hard, and did so much damage the car was a writeoff.

Norris now leads the championship with 365 points to 356 for Piastri and 326 for Verstappen.

2025 Sao Paulo GP Sprint Race Results