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Lando Norris has expressed his gratitude to McLaren team mate Oscar Piastri after the Australian moved aside during the final laps of the Sao Paulo Sprint to hand the lead – and subsequently the win – to Norris amid the Briton’s championship bid.
While Piastri led much of the 24-lap event after making a good start from pole position, Norris remained close on the tail of the #81 car throughout. Following some earlier discussions over the radio, the team opted to switch the cars on Lap 22 – allowing Norris to move ahead and take the victory – though that came moments before a Virtual Safety Car was called to clear the stricken Haas of Nico Hulkenberg.
READ MORE: Norris takes victory in the Sao Paulo Sprint ahead of Piastri after McLaren driver switch
Piastri, meanwhile, then faced a challenge from Norris’s title rival Max Verstappen as the Red Bull chased hard, but the 23-year-old held onto second place to give McLaren a one-two result.
Reflecting on the event afterwards, Norris explained: “Not proud about it but we worked well as a team together, so I thank Oscar. 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.”
Asked if he had felt that he had the pace to overtake Piastri during the Sprint, Norris responded: “It’s tough. It was kind of like yo-yoing a little bit, like I’d catch up and then I would drop back and catch up. It’s just the dirty air costs you a lot of lap time.
“I felt a bit quicker but I couldn’t pass at the time. I felt good, I think we were clearly quicker than the guys behind, it’s just difficult in the Sprint race like this – how much to manage and push, that kind of thing. We executed it well.”
HIGHLIGHTS: Watch the action from the Sao Paulo Sprint as McLaren driver switch secures Norris victory
Piastri spoke positively about the outcome of the Sprint, commenting afterwards that the situation had played out as they had previously discussed.
“It was a bit of a tricky race, to be honest, just trying to learn what we could for tomorrow,” the two-time race winner said. “The team result was obviously what we wanted and what we spoke about before the race. I think it all went to plan and [we] learned a lot for tomorrow.”
The result means that Norris has closed the gap to Verstappen in the drivers’ standings to 45 points, while McLaren have extended their lead over Ferrari in the constructors’ championship to 35 points.
Speaking on F1 TV’s post-Sprint show, Team Principal Andrea Stella acknowledged that the outcome had been the “best result we can have for both championships” and explained further why the squad waited until Lap 22 – just prior to the Virtual Safety Car period – to make the switch.
“This was a clear conversation that we had with our two drivers,” Stella reflected. “Both drivers are completely supportive, cohesive of this kind of approach. We’re in a very lucky position to have not only two number one fast drivers, but also two great team players.
“In terms of executing the swap, obviously this depends on where the others are. The sufficient gap between the second and the third never really materialised.
AS IT HAPPENED: Follow all the action from the F1 Sprint in Sao Paulo as Piastri helps Norris to victory
“So we needed to wait, but as soon as we saw that there was a possibility of a Virtual Safety Car or a Safety Car, we then executed it immediately, so pretty much the Sprint race went according to plan. It’s always a little tense, it’s a Formula 1 competition – I would be surprised if it wasn’t the case!”
Stella went on to hint that the team would again enact such orders if another scenario like this arises during the remainder of the campaign.
“If you are a Formula 1 driver and you are second, you’re always going to be a little bit nervous, so we deeply respect this aspect,” he said of the drivers’ situation in the Sprint.
“But like I said before, the reality is that our conversations have always been, not only this morning but even in the previous races, extremely constructive and cohesive and definitely it’s going to be the case for the remainder of the weekend and the final part of the season.”
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