Max Verstappen took the lead from Lando Norris to win the F1 GP sprint race in Brazil, with Sergio Perez fighting his way to third place.
The F1 GP sprint race in Brazil got off to a good start as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took the inside line and took the lead ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris, then took advantage of the opportunity at the end of the lap to move into second place. It was a good start. He lost his place to Mercedes’ George Russell.
Red Bull driver Sergio Perez lost out to Russell and Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, dropping to fifth place ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who overtook AlphaTauri’s Hiroki Tsunoda. Carlos Sainz’s other Ferrari finished eighth, ahead of Daniel Ricciardo’s other AlphaTauri.
It was a battle for the final points between the Spaniard and Australian between McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso. The McLaren driver fell back into the top ten after the slip.
As Verstappen extended his lead, Norris caught up with Russell and took second place, with Perez ahead of Hamilton and Leclerc close behind. However, Monaco started to lose momentum, and Tsunoda continued to chase him hard in the battle for 6th place.
After Perez got in front of Hamilton, the Mexican tried to pass Russell and passed him at Turn 1. However, the Briton reversed at Turn 4, but lost again at Turn 1 a few laps later and he finished third, with Hamilton a short distance away and him fifth.
The battle for the final points continued, with Sainz defending Ricciardo. The Australian caught him in turn one but was able to retake him in turn four. It was the second time the Spaniard held the spot, but the AlphaTauri driver came under pressure from Piastri.
The Australian eventually moved up to ninth place, with Alonso, Gasly and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll competing. Sainz cleared them, but Piastri had to defend against Ricciardo, Alonso and Stroll after the Canadian overtook and brought down Gasly.
While Verstappen took the lead ahead of Norris and Perez, Russell was in fourth place, well behind his teammate Hamilton, who was soon coming under pressure from Leclerc and Tsunoda. It was a good result, with both riders overtaking the British and moving into fifth and sixth place.
Sainz was in 8th place, but Ricciardo overtook Piastri in 9th place in the battle for 8th place and began to catch up with him. Verstappen’s sprint victory at the Brazilian F1 GP was a comfortable victory as he beat Norris by more than four seconds, while Perez finished 13 seconds behind the Dutchman.
Russell finished fourth ahead of Leclerc and Tsunoda, while Hamilton held off Sainz and Ricciardo by 0.197 seconds to the final point. Behind him, Piastri was able to keep Alonso in 10th place, despite the Spaniard’s last desperate attempts.
More to come
