F1 Sao Paulo GP Sprint race report: Charles Leclerc P4, Carlos Sainz P5 at Intrlagos

Here is our full text transcript from the 2024 F1 Sprint race at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix:

Good afternoon and welcome as we get ready for the penultimate Sprint of 2024 in Sao Paulo, where Lando Norris looks to make up ground on Max Verstappen. It is Oscar Piastri who is on pole for the Sprint though from Norris, after he snatched top spot away from his McLaren team-mate in Sprint Qualifying yesterday. Max Verstappen starts fourth behind Charles Leclerc and one of the big questions is how aggressive will he be on the opening lap, with Norris just a couple spots in front of him.

Carlos Sainz could be a factor if Ferrari’s strong long run pace from Practice continues, while British teenager and Ferrari junior Oliver Bearman continues to impress after he reached SQ3 and Haas have confirmed he will be driving in place of Kevin Magnussen for the rest of the weekend.

Will Piastri help Norris win the Sprint? This is surely the big question heading in to this afternoon’s 24-lap dash around Interlagos as Lando Norris chases every point he can get to try and continue his chase of Max Verstappen for the world title over these final four race weekends of 2024. And, in truth, it seems we already had a reasonably clear answer on this from Sprint polesitter Oscar Piastri last night when asked if he would give up victory in the Sprint to aid the quest of his title-chasing McLaren team-mate.

The pit lane is open and the cars are making their way to the grid. It is very sunny for now with the track temperature at 42 degrees Celcius. Max Verstappen is eager to get a feel of the car and is surely the driver to watch at the start from fourth.

Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll and Zhou Guanyu will start the Sprint from the pit lane due to car changes during parc ferme. The teams are not allowed to change the car after Sprint Qualifying, other than for minor tweaks, but Aston Martin and Sauber have elected to break this rule. Alonso, Stroll and Zhou were all eliminated in SQ1, so were unlikely to move up the order and get into the top eight points paying positions.

Sky Sports F1’s Naomi Schiff on Oliver Bearman, who is driving in place of Kevin Magnussen for the remainder of the Sao Paulo GP weekend:

“He did an incredible job yesterday. To get the call at 6am to find out you’re going to drive, obviously these drivers are prepped for that but to just step up in the moment and put in a performance like that was incredible. In the end, he ran a little bit wide and went over track limits, should probably have banked another lap, but those are just details that are helping him learn for next season. He’s already doing a great job to start with.”

No surprise that all 20 drivers have opted to start on the mediums for this 24-lap Sprint in Sao Paulo. Only 17 cars will actually line up on the grid for the Sprint start, with the two Aston Martins and Zhou Guanyu’s Sauber getting their days’ under way from the pit lane after unpermitted set-up changes in parc ferme.

Lap 1/24: Good getaways for both McLarens, but Oscar Piastri aggressively shuts the door on team-mate Lando Norris. It works out ok though, as Norris stays ahead of Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen. Further down the field, it is a poor start for Oliver Bearman and Lewis Hamilton, who have dropped a couple places each. Ollie Bearman is down to 12th and Hamilton in 14th on the opening lap.

Lap 2/24: This is a perfect start for McLaren. Lando Norris has DRS behind his team-mate but has got a more than a second clear of Charles Leclerc.

Lap 3/24: Leclerc covers at Turn One at the start of the lap and Verstappen has a look into Turn Four but still can’t get the move done.

Lap 3/24: Max Verstappen gets a reminder not to do anything silly over team radio. “Take your time Max. You know the game.”

Lap 5/24: Lando Norris is staying within about half a second of his team-mate Oscar Piastri, but Charles Leclerc is now on the back of the title contender. Have McLaren missed their opportunity to switch their cars?

Lap 6/24: Lando Norris is signalling that he wants Oscar Piastri to get out of the way. Norris is told “we understand, just keep an eye on Leclerc behind”.

Lap 6/24: McLaren respond with some pace of their own to take Lando Norris back out of DRS range from Charles Leclerc behind him. Behind them, Max Verstappen has found some pace and is right back on the tail of Charles Leclerc. You can’t take your eyes off this!

Lap 7/24: Lando Norris is showing some impatience now as he has a big slide in the middle sector and drops out of DRS range from Piastri. His latest radio message is: “I’m not sure what I’m doing here mate. We spoke about this before.”

Lap 9/24: Lando Norris is not happy but keeps his composure to hold off Charles Leclerc in the first sector of lap nine. With it all so tight now, it would be very difficult for McLaren to switch their drivers. Why on earth didn’t they do it earlier when they had some breathing room?

Piastri told to give Norris DRS
Lap 10/24: The first team order from McLaren but it is not a call to Pisatri to let his team-mate through…The top four are running within two seconds of each other. Any error her could cost multiple places.

Lap 10/24: Further down the field, Sergio Perez makes a nice move down the inside of Nico Hulkenberg into Turn Four. He’s got Oliver Bearman and Liam Lawson to get by to get into the top eight scoring positions.

Lap 12/24: Lando Norris once more drifts out of DRS range from his team-mate in the closing stages of lap 11, which leaves him fending off Charles Leclerc in the first sector of lap 12 again. Piastri, who will be benefitting from the clean air, drops back a little to make sure the same thing doesn’t happen on the following circuit.

Lap 13/24: Max Verstappen is having another go. He looks to get up the inside of Charles Leclerc at Turn 4 but the Ferrari is not having any of it. Meanwhile, Lando Norris has some breathing space ahead is right back on the tail of leader Oscar Piastri.

Lap 16/24: Max Verstappen looked well placed to have another great look at passing Charles Leclerc into Turn 4, but runs wide at Turn 1 and finally gives the Ferrari some space. Norris is now 1.5s clear of Leclerc.

Lap 18/24: Max Verstappen finally gets through, going round the outside of Charles Leclerc on the run down to Turn 4. Does Verstappen have the pace to close a 1.4s gap to Lando Norris ahead?

Lap 20/24: Unlike last Sunday when the pair made contact, Sergio Perez dives down the inside of Liam Lawson into Turn 1 and is into eighth, the last of the points positions.

Lap 20/24: We saw some smoke from the back of Nico Hulkenberg’s car and he’s pulled over in the middle sector. Double waved yellow flags for now…

Lap 22/24: Amid fears of a Safety Car being called, McLaren make the switch. But Max Verstappen is immediately onto the back of Oscar Piastri! No response from Oscar Piastri, who now has Max Verstappen all over him.

Lap 24/24: The VSC ends but just after Oscar Piastri gets to Turn 4 and is able to hold off Max Verstappen. The Red Bull will have one more go on the run to the chequered flag.

Chequered flag: That was a tense one! Lando Norris wins though after Oscar Piastri lets him through just before that Virtual Safety Car.

It is a McLaren one-two, with Max Verstappen in third. The Ferraris, who had a surprising lack of pace, come home fourth and fifth.