F1 race results: Lando Norris takes the F1 Sprint as Oscar Piastri crashes out

When the story of the 2025 Formula 1 season is fully written, Saturday at Interlagos may be the most pivotal chapter.

Not only will Saturday see the F1 Sprint race at the São Paulo Grand Prix, but the all-important qualifying hour for Sunday’s main event will take place later in the day.

First things first, as the 24-lap F1 Sprint race kicks off the day. Lando Norris, who leads the Drivers’ Championship race by a single point over teammate Oscar Piastri, starts up front with Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli in second. Piastri lines up third while Max Verstappen, after a difficult qualifying session on Friday, starts sixth.

Of course, it would not be a race at Interlagos without the threat of rain, and Saturday is no different. Brazil’s National Institute of Meteorology has issued a warning for severe storms, including heavy rain and high winds, for Saturday morning.

That might be music to Verstappen’s ears after last year’s São Paulo Grand Prix. After qualifying 17th, Verstappen charged through the field, and the rain, to secure a win in one of his greatest drives. That victory saw Verstappen put one hand on the Drivers’ Championship trophy, and his fourth consecutive title.

However, speaking earlier this week, Verstappen conceded that this year, it is McLaren that holds an advantage in the rain, given their prowess with tire management. “In the rain it’s always very risky,” Verstappen told the official Formula 1 channel during Thursday’s media day sessions. “It can work for you, it can work against you.

“Also this season I think in the wet McLaren has been very, very strong to control the overheating, for example, on the intermediate tires. So it’s not a given that if it rains that suddenly we will be the ones to beat.”

It all begins with the F1 Sprint race Saturday morning, which gets underway at 9:00 a.m. Eastern, barring any weather-related delays. We’ll have the full race results and analysis as soon as the checkered flag flies, so check back early and often!

Provisional F1 Sprint results from the São Paulo Grand Prix

Here are the provisional F1 Sprint results from the São Paulo Grand Prix, which will be filled in as the race unfolds.

Update: Piastri and Colapinto are out after both drivers found the barrier at Turn 3 on Lap 6.

How the F1 Sprint unfolded at the São Paulo Grand Prix

Heavy rains in the hours ahead of the F1 Sprint on Saturday made the first turn a voyage of discovery for the cars on the grid. While the rain had stopped, the surface at Interlagos was wet, and the drivers would have just 24 laps to discover just how damp the racing line was.

But the more surprising fact was the tire strategy. While Norris and Piastri were on the medium tires, Kimi Antonelli in P2 opted for a set of soft tires. Speculation grew that drivers lining up on the inside were opting for soft tires because of the conditions, with Antonelli (P2), George Russell (P4), Max Verstappen (P6), and Charles Leclerc (P8) all on softs.

Norris, Piastri (P3), Fernando Alonso (P5), and Lance Stroll (P7) all opted for the mediums.

When the lights went out, Norris got the start that he needed, maintaining the lead through the first few corners. Verstappen wound around Alonso at the start to pick up one spot, moving into P5.

But as the second lap began, the C4 soft tires on Antonelli’s W16 began to warm up, as Antonelli pulled within a half-second of Norris at the front of the field. Antonelli knew that he had to make a move sooner rather than later, as the grip on the soft tires would start to fade as the laps ticked down.

By Lap 4, however, Norris had built a lead of over 1.5 seconds, thanks to a pair of rapid laps in the MCL39.

Then, on Lap 6, disaster struck for several drivers. At Turn 3, Piastri caught the kerb with the left side of his MCL39 and careened into the barrier, ending his race as he lost the rear of his car. That was not the only incident, as Nico Hülkenberg and Franco Colapinto also found the barrier at that turn, with Hülkenberg also catching the kerb with his left side, as did Colapinto.

You can see Piastri’s moment here:

The Safety Car came out, followed by the red flag, and Norris had a nine-point lead in the Drivers’ Championship within his grasp.

When the session stopped, Norris was in the lead, followed by the Mercedes pair of Antonelli and Russell. Verstappen was up in P4, followed by Alonso, Charles Leclerc, and Lewis Hamilton.

Stroll was the last driver in the points, sitting in P8.

The red flag gave Sauber a chance to work on Hülkenberg’s C45. While Piastri and Colapinto retired, Hülkenberg managed to get his challenger running again and returned to the pit lane under the red flag, without a front wing.

But with the red flag in place, Sauber had a chance to fix the damage and send Hülkenberg back out there if possible. When the race resumed, the Sauber veteran was in the field.

Then came another break for Norris, as the Race Director called for a rolling start. That would cut down on the chances of another incident, but give Norris a chance to lead the pack.

And he was now on a set of soft tires, with McLaren taking advantage of the red flag to make the switch. The three drivers behind him — Antonelli, Russell, and Verstappen — were all on medium tires.

The race would resume on Norris’ timing, and he waited until very late on before dropping the hammer, relying on the soft tires bolted onto his MCL39 to give him the grip and traction he needed to maintain the lead in a drag race. When the race resumed, Norris roared away from the field, but the two Mercedes teammates battled behind him for second. Verstappen ran wide, opening the door momentarily for Alonso to barge through, but Verstappen was able to hang onto the position and leave Alonso behind him as the Aston Martin driver recovered from a lockup of his own.

After just one lap of racing, Norris was back to a 1.3-second lead over Antonelli, with the Mercedes duo separated by less than a second behind him.

As Norris continued to lead, the tightest battle was a few places back, as Alonso in P5 had his rear-view mirrors filled with scarlet red, as both Leclerc and Hamilton chased him around Interlagos. On Lap 15, Leclerc was within DRS range of Alonso in P6, with Hamilton within DRS range of his teammate in P7.

A few spots back, Pierre Gasly had his eyes on a point, as he was within DRS range of Stroll in front of him in P8. Gasly was at the back end of a DRS train that stretched up to Alonso in P5, and the Alpine veteran was on the radio telling his team that Leclerc needed to get by Alonso to break the DRS train.

On Lap 18, Norris reported that he was struggling with the rear tires, and Antonelli was closing the gap to the McLaren. Was the door open for the Mercedes rookie to crash the party?

Stroll had fallen away from Hamilton by Lap 19, slipping outside of DRS range. That allowed Gasly to strike, as the Alpine driver was still within one second of the Aston Martin, clinging to its rear wing as the cars roared around Interlagos.

As Lap 21 of 24 began, the fight was on at the front. Antonelli had closed within a half-second of Norris and tried to shape a move at Turn 1, but Norris did not leave the door open. But one mistake from the McLaren driver would present Antonelli with a golden opportunity to steal a win in São Paulo.

On Lap 22, Leclerc finally got by Alonso, taking advantage of a slippery exit by the veteran to slide into P5 for the moment.

Norris maintained his lead into Lap 23, leaving Antonelli perhaps just one more chance to steal the win away from him. Behind them, Gasly found a way by Stroll to move into the final points position, but all eyes were on Norris and Antonelli at the front.

Antonelli got close, closing to within a half-second of Norris at Turn 1, but the McLaren driver maintained the lead through Turn 4 and the first sector, where Antonelli has been strong all weekend long. Norris roared out of Turn 12 with the lead, rocketing back to take the checkered flag and the win, with Antonelli and Russell cutting the beam behind him to join him on the podium.

Verstappen, Leclerc, Alonso, Hamilton, and Gasly rounded out the points positions.

On the final lap, hometown hero Gabriel Bortoleto endured a massive crash, sliding into the inside barrier. Thankfully, the Sauber rookie immediately reported that he was okay, but the team faces a huge challenge to get his C45 ready for qualifying later today.:

“It was tough,” said Norris trackside to James Hinchcliffe. “Especially with Kimi [Antonelli] here, he was certainly not making my life easy,” added the McLaren driver while gesturing to the Mercedes rookie.

“We’ve got some homework to do before quali,” added Norris.

“It was a very fun race,” said Antonelli. “We tried to keep the pressure on Lando, and just came short.”

With his win, Norris now has a nine-point lead over Piastri in the Drivers’ Championship, 365 points to 356. With his fourth-place finish, Verstappen picked up five points, bringing his season total to 326.