Norris wins hectic São Paulo sprint as rival Piastri crashes out

Written by Maham Mir, Edited by Meghana Sree

Lando Norris took sprint victory from pole in an interrupted session that saw title rival Oscar Piastri crash out after running in third, while Mercedes scored a double podium led by Kimi Antonelli.

Credit: Formula One

For round 21 of 24 in 2025, Formula One returned to Interlagos for the São Paulo Grand Prix. Following its position as a sprint venue since the format was adopted in 2021, racing around the 4.309 km track never disappoints, and this sprint was no different.

On this occasion, it was Norris who adapted to the changing conditions for a crucial eight points in this close championship battle.

As a reminder, Norris continued the trend of a new sprint pole position holder at every sprint weekend so far in 2025.

Additionally, Antonelli had his second sprint front row start, after being on sprint pole in Miami earlier this season. Carlos Sainz started from the pitlane however had already qualified P20 in sprint qualifying on Friday.

When the lights went out, Norris kept the lead of the race and slowly built a gap to Antonelli behind, who in turn built a gap to Piastri. The top three, therefore, stayed in the order they started.

Elsewhere on the grid, Lewis Hamilton had an incredible start to move up three places while Lance Stroll and Isack Hadjar struggled, dropping two and four places respectively. Meanwhile, Liam Lawson and Ollie Bearman were noted for a collision although this was not to be investigated until after the session was over.

Although the beginning laps were relatively calm and without incident, this changed on Lap 6 when Piastri drove over the kerb at Turn 3 and dragged water onto the track before ending up in the barriers. Nico ​​Hülkenberg and Franco Colapinto, having also dipped their tyres on the same kerb as Piastri, slid off-track following the McLaren driver.

A Safety Car was quickly deployed to deal with damage to the barriers but a red flag was waved soon after.

During the red flag, the damage sustained to Hülkenberg's car was repaired and therefore left him able to rejoin for the restart, however Colapinto was confirmed to have retired from the race. Prior to the restart, race control declared that it would be a rolling start.

On the second start for the sprint, Norris kept his lead while George Russell and Antonelli battled for the runner-up position behind Norris. By Lap 13, the gaps between drivers settled, despite DRS being enabled, with Norris out of the one-second range required for Antonelli to enable DRS.

Credit: Formula One

Behind the front-runners, Charles Leclerc, Fernando Alonso and Hamilton battled for P5 as both the Aston Martin and Ferraris seemed to come alive during race conditions. Also during this period, Pierre Gasly, driving for Alpine who had not scored for the past seven Grands Prix, battled with Stroll for the final points-scoring position of P8.

In the midst of the battle for P5 with the two Ferraris, Alonso was told by his race engineer on the radio to enable Lift and Cost for performance. The other Aston Martin garage saw Alonso’s teammate Stroll continuing his battle with Gasly. Additionally, although not battling for points, Esteban Ocon made a move on Lawson.

By Lap 18, Antonelli had started to put pressure on Norris who revealed on the radio to be struggling with the rear tyres on his soft compound tyres. Despite the struggles of the championship leader, Antonelli was unable to utilise DRS in the final stages to pass the Briton.

Behind the two cars vying for the race win, the battle for P5 continued and finally, Leclerc was able to pass Alonso on Lap 22. While Hamilton attempted to battle with his fellow veteran driver, he was unable to make a move and Alonso ultimately ended up splitting the two Ferraris.

On the final lap, home-hero Gabriel Bortoleto went into the barriers after a heavy crash. Following the collision, double yellow flags were waved; the race was concluded under these conditions.

With this sprint victory, Norris becomes the first driver to win the sprint from pole position in São Paulo. Although not celebrating a win, Antonelli achieved his best race finish in any format with P2. The rookie finished above his teammate for the second weekend running.

Alonso’s close battle with Leclerc saw him winning his first points in the sprint format since Qatar 2023. While Hamilton scored points, he was unable to pass Alonso like his teammate.

Despite the disappointment of Colapinto’s DNF, Gasly gave Alpine reason to rejoice. Having passed Stroll in the final few laps of the race, the French driver brought the team their first points in eight race weekends.

Having extended his championship lead to nine points, with his closest championship rival out and therefore not scoring any points, Norris will be hoping to continue his good run of form ahead of qualifying later today.