Max Verstappen added to his tally of wins in the Sprint race at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, having taken P1 from Lando Norris off the line.

The Dutchman launched ahead at the start of the 24-lap encounter and remained mostly unchallenged throughout, despite Norris piling on the pressure at times.

With the Sprint format offering a free tyre choice, most of the grid opted to begin the race on the soft tyre, as only Logan Sargeant at the back and the Haas duo selected the mediums. It was a good start for Norris, but Verstappen soon swept past into the lead in Turn 1, while George Russell took P3 from Sergio Perez. Lewis Hamilton was quick to join the fight with Perez and came out on top to claim P4.

Norris then fell victim to Russell as the latter dived down the inside of the McLaren into Turn 10. Further back, the AlphaTauri pair of Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo lost out to the Ferrari duo, while Oscar Piastri had an off-track excursion.

It seemed to be a tough moment for Mercedes, as Russell also lost a place further ahead after Norris utilised the DRS to pass into second. Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso – who suffered an early exit in the Sprint Shootout following a collision with Esteban Ocon, putting him in P15 on the grid – was making moves, overtaking Kevin Magnussen for 12th place.

While the top four of Verstappen, Norris, Russell and Perez seemed to have broken away slightly at the front by Lap 7, a DRS train was starting to form further back. The troubles seemed to continue for the Silver Arrows as Perez closed in on Russell. Initially the Red Bull looked to have got ahead into Turn 1, before Russell made a move back into Turn 4.