McLaren gives Lando Norris sprint victory in Brazil

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This is not the most beautiful way to win, but it is the most effective. McLaren swapped their drivers, thinking about Lando Norris’s chances of winning the Formula 1 World Championship. A tactical double that produced more sparks, although it had a happy ending for the papaya build.

“Papaya Rules” McLaren in Brazil

Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen: the fantastic foursome of the São Paulo Grand Prix sprint race. McLaren management is back in the spotlight: With the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships on the line, Zac Brown’s lineup retained the starting order with the Australian first and the Englishman second.

Norris didn’t really agree because of his special interests. Obviously, his goal is to take more points from Verstappen. But he obeyed the wall’s orders, just as Piastri provided DRS to his teammate (at the team’s request) so that Lando could defend against Leclerc.

Max, in turn, began to lose patience with Leclerc’s constant micro-driving errors, which prevented both drivers from approaching the two orange cars. Finally, the Dutchman overtook the Monegasque on lap 18 of 24. This overtaking alarmed McLaren, so Andrea Stella decided that Piastri would let Norris pass for the Englishman to knock another point off Verstappen.

A sprint race, more like a chess game. Here overtaking was not so much the order of the day, but in Interlagos it was something unusual. But tactics. On Sunday, rain and a penalty for Verstappen. Let the magic of Interlagos continue.

Sprint race results – F1 Grand Prix Sao Paulo 2024