Lando Norris thanked his McLaren teammate, Oscar Piastri, for moving aside in the final laps of the Sao Paulo Sprint, allowing Norris to take the lead and secure an extra one point for the victory and cut Verstappen’s lead in the championship to 45 points.

Piastri had led most of the 24-lap race after starting from pole position, with Norris close behind. With just a few laps left of the sprint race, McLaren decided to switch their drivers, letting Norris move ahead.

This swich was apparently discussed before the race, however Norris wasn’t happy to be left behind Piastri in the first half of the sprint race.

On Lap 5, the Briton told his engineer: “Yeah, I’m close,” hinting that a switch with Piastri might be on the cards soon.

Two laps later, he sounded frustrated, saying: “I’m not sure what I’m doing here, I thought we talked about this.”

Shortly after that message, Norris slipped out of Piastri’s DRS range, bringing him within a one-second gap of the trailing Leclerc and Verstappen.

The team encouraged him with, “Keep doing what you’re doing,” to which Norris replied, “Yeah, whatever.”

Moments after the swap on lap 22, a Virtual Safety Car came out to clear Nico Hulkenberg’s car, which helped Norris maintain his lead until the end.

Piastri then faced pressure from Max Verstappen, who was pushing hard from third place. Despite this challenge, Piastri held on to second, giving McLaren an impressive one-two finish.

Reflecting on the sprint outcome, Norris acknowledged the mixed feelings about taking the win through a team order but emphasized the importance of working together.

“Not proud about it but we worked well as a team together, so I thank Oscar [Piastri].

“We’ve done a great job as a team. Today was the result that we wanted.

“Oscar deserved it but we’re doing what we have to do, so I thank him and the team. We had great pace so I’m looking forward to qualifying and the race tomorrow.”