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F1 Brazilian GP: Verstappen passes Norris at the start to win sprint race

Verstappen grabbed a much stronger launch off the line when the lights went out, and took advantage of a passive Norris to thread his Red Bull down the inside.

The threat of Norris subsided quickly when the McLaren was dispatched by George Russell at Turn 11, as the Mercedes pounced on a gap to move into second.

But Russell could not get near Verstappen and the Dutchman was given the opportunity to start expanding on his lead to fend off the slightest hint of a battle with DRS.

Russell's strong start to the 24-lap race soon faded and offered Norris the chance to re-pass after drawing closer with DRS, allowing safe passage for the McLaren driver into the runner-up position once more.

Verstappen was well ahead at this juncture, however, with over 1.4 seconds in hand while Norris could not make a concerted effort to close in on the Red Bull's tail.

A minor high-speed corner advantage in Norris' favour allowed a small glimmer of opportunity for McLaren that could not be delivered upon as Verstappen only had to respond in kind to the Bristol-born driver and keep the gap between 1.4s and 1.6s over the following tours.

After being given the chance to push the higher-speed corners, Verstappen could start to eke out the gap a little more on each lap and finally found a two-second cushion as the race moved towards its final quarter. This had been doubled at the chequered flag, as a final flourish gave Verstappen a 4.2-second lead at the end.

Norris thus had to be content with second, having been unchallenged from behind after passing Russell as the resurgent Sergio Perez was a long way behind after recovering third.

Perez fell behind both Mercedes drivers at the start of the race; Russell got past at the start and Lewis Hamilton made a brave move on the Mexican at Turn 4, but the W14 seemed to wane beyond the first lap and this offered Perez a way back into third.

With DRS, Perez nipped past Hamilton at Turn 1 having shown much stronger straight-line speed, and then began to reel in Russell for a move on the eighth lap. Although the Red Bull got through into Turn 1, Russell found enough downhill momentum to re-pass into Turn 4 with DRS.

Two laps later, Perez was offered the chance to pass Russell again, and on this occasion was wise to the potential reversal into the next DRS zone and did enough to cover off the Briton.

Russell was unable to keep up with the leading trio and instead elected to cement fourth, while Charles Leclerc snatched ahead of Hamilton on lap 21 as the Mercedes struggled to find traction on the exit of the Senna S.

Their battle allowed Yuki Tsunoda to home in on the seven-time champion; although the Japanese driver had been passed by Leclerc at the start, he kept pace with the Ferrari and pounced when the two encountered a sluggish Hamilton.

Tsunoda got through Hamilton at the start of lap 22, using a DRS tow up the hill to draw alongside and capture the position into the opening corner.

Hamilton was able to hold on to seventh, as Carlos Sainz just about completed the scorers with eighth position as he warded off a late charge from Daniel Ricciardo.

Ricciardo had earlier been in contention for eighth having battled Sainz, but a series of overtaking attempts left the AlphaTauri driver vulnerable through Turns 6 and 7 to countryman Oscar Piastri.

Piastri passed him with 10 laps to go, but Ricciardo managed to clear the McLaren with two laps remaining to close back in on Sainz.

The younger Australian managed to hold off a hard-charging Fernando Alonso for 10th, as the Spaniard attempted to carve his way through the pack after only qualifying 15th through his SQ1 clash with Esteban Ocon.

Lance Stroll followed his team-mate into 12th, as both Astons passed Pierre Gasly, with Ocon managing to collect 14th.

Alex Albon worked his way up to 14th, dispatching the medium-shod Haas pair of Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg - who were split by Zhou Guanyu.

Valtteri Bottas and Logan Sargeant completed the finishers, as the latter was the only other medium-tyre runner bar the Haas duo.

 
 
         
Driver Info
 
 
 
   
Cla Driver # Laps Time Interval km/h Pits Points Retirement Chassis Engine
1 Netherlands M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1 24

-

      8   Red Bull Red Bull
2 United Kingdom L. Norris McLaren 4 24

+4.287

4.287

4.287     7   McLaren Mercedes
3 Mexico S. Perez Red Bull Racing 11 24

+13.617

13.617

9.330     6   Red Bull Red Bull
4 United Kingdom G. Russell Mercedes 63 24

+25.879

25.879

12.262     5   Mercedes Mercedes
5 Monaco C. Leclerc Ferrari 16 24

+28.560

28.560

2.681     4   Ferrari Ferrari
6 Japan Y. Tsunoda AlphaTauri 22 24

+29.210

29.210

0.650     3   AlphaTauri Red Bull
7 United Kingdom L. Hamilton Mercedes 44 24

+34.726

34.726

5.516     2   Mercedes Mercedes
8 Spain C. Sainz Ferrari 55 24

+35.106

35.106

0.380     1   Ferrari Ferrari
9 Australia D. Ricciardo AlphaTauri 3 24

+35.303

35.303

0.197         AlphaTauri Red Bull
10 Australia O. Piastri McLaren 81 24

+38.219

38.219

2.916         McLaren Mercedes
11 Spain F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing 14 24

+39.061

39.061

0.842         Aston Martin Mercedes
12 Canada L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing 18 24

+39.478

39.478

0.417         Aston Martin Mercedes
13 France P. Gasly Alpine 10 24

+40.621

40.621

1.143         Alpine Renault
14 France E. Ocon Alpine 31 24

+42.848

42.848

2.227         Alpine Renault
15 Thailand A. Albon Williams 23 24

+43.394

43.394

0.546         Williams Mercedes
16 Denmark K. Magnussen Haas F1 Team 20 24

+56.507

56.507

13.113         Haas Ferrari
17 China G. Zhou Alfa Romeo 24 24

+58.723

58.723

2.216         Alfa Romeo Ferrari
18 Germany N. Hulkenberg Haas F1 Team 27 24

+1'00.330

1'00.330

1.607         Haas Ferrari
19 Finland V. Bottas Alfa Romeo 77 24

+1'00.749

1'00.749

0.419         Alfa Romeo Ferrari
20 United States L. Sargeant Williams 2 24

+1'00.945

1'00.945

0.196         Williams Mercedes
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