Lando Norris wins Brazil sprint to cut into Max Verstappen's lead

SAO PAULO -- Lando Norris won Saturday's sprint race at the Brazilian Grand Prix after McLaren deployed team orders to ensure he finished ahead of teammate Oscar Piastri.

Piastri led 21 laps of the 24-lap race before being told to give the position to Norris on Lap 22 to help the British driver's championship chances.

The decision was all the more pressing as Norris' title rival, Max Verstappen, had moved up to third place ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc on Lap 18 of 24.

However, after the race Verstappen received a five-second penalty for breaking Virtual Safety Car (VSC) rules, dropping him back behind Leclerc to fourth place in the final classification.

The win, with Piastri in second place and Verstappen fourth, means Norris took three points out of Verstappen's championship lead, reducing the difference between the two to 44 points in the standings.

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The McLaren swap was made just before the VSC was deployed at the end of Lap 22 to recover the broken down Haas of Nico Hulkenberg.

Racing resumed just after the leaders reached Turn 4 on the final lap, with Verstappen attempting a pass on Piastri for second place only to back out before the corner.

Verstappen was found to have dropped 0.63 seconds below the minimum time mandated to slow cars under the VSC.

Although McLaren secured a one-two with Norris ahead of Piastri, the situation became tense as it initially seemed Norris expected to be given the lead earlier in the race.

On Lap 7, Norris radioed his team to say: "I'm not sure what I'm doing here mate. I thought we spoke about this."

On Lap 16, when Leclerc was still in third place and acting as a buffer to Verstappen, Norris' engineer told him a swap would occur on the final lap.

However, that plan was abandoned on Lap 22 after Hulkenberg's car stopped at the side of the track and it became clear a VSC would be deployed to recover the Haas that could prevent overtaking up until the chequered flag.

The swap was made successfully before the VSC, although it allowed Verstappen to close on Piastri - something McLaren had feared would happen if they made the switch earlier in the race.

Behind Verstappen in fourth, the second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz finished fifth after losing ground to the top four cars in the opening laps.

George Russell had a lonely race to sixth for Mercedes ahead of the Alpine of Pierre Gasly in seventh.

Sergio Perez took the last point on offer when he passed RB's Liam Lawson on the inside at Turn 1 on Lap 20. The move followed a tense battle between the two drivers in Mexico a week ago amid speculation Lawson could replace Perez at Red Bull next year.