This Saturday, the sprint race and qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix were supposed to take place. However, due to heavy rain in the afternoon in Sao Paulo, qualifying was postponed until Sunday morning. The GP, which takes place on the Interlagos circuit, is the 21st of 24 in the 2024 Formula 1 season and the 1122nd in the history of the sport.
During this weekend, Oliver Bearman replaces Kevin Magnussen who is ill at Haas. The young 19-year-old Briton was originally only supposed to take the wheel until after the sprint race, but he was appointed for the entire Grand Prix late this Friday evening.
Course sprint
The sprint race started under the sun for 24 laps on the 4.309 kilometer track with 15 turns. Oscar Piastri, who started from pole with his McLaren, maintained his advantage over his teammate Lando Norris and no incidents occurred at the start.
For his part, Max Verstappen (Red Bull) put direct pressure on Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) for third place. However, the Dutchman was unable to overtake him and was told on the radio to be patient.
Lando Norris stayed behind Oscar Piastri and implicitly asked on the radio to let him take first position so he could receive more points in the drivers' championship. As a reminder, he is currently second behind Max Verstappen and is getting closer and closer. However, McLaren decided to leave Oscar Piastri in the lead.
15 laps from the checkered flag, the British team still asked the race leader to give DRS to Lando Norris, because Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen were in contact with him.
By the 16th lap, Norris had regained his lead over Leclerc and was closing in on Piastri again. He was told on the radio to hold his position, but he announced that he was going to attack his teammate for first place.
Two laps later, Max Verstappen finally overtook Charles Leclerc, which did not suit McLaren. Four laps from the checkered flag, Sergio Pérez (Red Bull) overtook Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) for eighth position, the last point synonymous.
Shortly after that, Nico Hülkenberg (Haas) found himself idling in sector 2 and a yellow flag was brought out. With two laps remaining, McLaren finally asked Piastri to let Norris pass. The Australian then complied. As for Hülkenberg, he was forced to retire and a virtual safety car was deployed.
At the very end of the sprint race, the virtual safety car was withdrawn and Verstappen did everything to overtake Piastri. However, he couldn't do it. Consequently, Lando Norris won ahead of Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen. Charles Leclerc finished fourth. However, Max Verstappen received a five-second penalty after the session for an infringement under the virtual safety car, as he attempted to overtake Oscar Piastri at that time. He therefore ranked fourth and Charles Leclerc inherited third place.
Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) finished fifth and ahead of George Russell (Mercedes). Pierre Gasly (Alpine) and Sergio Pérez completed the top 8. Quebecer Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) came in 19th place. For the full ranking, click here.
The Grand Prix will still logically be contested this Sunday at 2 p.m. local time (12 p.m. Quebec time). As for the exact qualifying schedule for this Sunday morning, it is still not known.
