Lando Norris Wins Brazil GP Sprint Race, Cuts Max Verstappen's F1 Championship Lead To...

Lando Norris trimmed two points off Max Verstappen's lead in Formula One's drivers' world championship on Saturday after claiming victory ahead of his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri in the sprint race at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix. The title-chasing Briton took the lead on lap 22 of the 24-lap race, when Piastri swapped positions with him before fending off the challenge of three-time champion Verstappen in his Red Bull.

Norris, 24, came home 0.593 seconds clear of Piastri who finished 1.5 seconds ahead of the Dutchman with Charles Leclerc finishing fourth.

Norris admitted he was fortunate to collect his first career sprint race win.

"I'm not proud of it, but it worked well and as a team we had a good day -- and thanks to Oscar," said Norris.

"He deserved to win, but it was good team work and we had great pace. And we executed it well."

Verstappen leads Norris by 45 points with four races including Sunday's to come -- and one sprint -- and it could get worse for the Dutch driver.

At the finish Verstappen -- who will start with a five-place grid penalty -- was noted for an infringement of the Virtual Safety Car (VSC) rules.

"It was a tricky race," said Verstappen.

"The pace was good and I'm quite pleased with that although it took quite a long time for me to pass Charles (Leclerc) -- I had to wait for a mistake to pass him."

He added he would be aiming to 'limit the damage' to his title defence in Sunday's race.

McLaren's one-two success lifted them 35 points clear of Ferrari in the constructors' championship and ended Verstappen's run of four consecutive sprint wins this year.

- 'Dirty air' -

Piastri said it had been a terrific day for the team.

"It was tricky and very bumpy out there and the racing line is very narrow,