Verstappen beats Norris in F1 Brazil Sprint

F1 Grand Prix, GP Brazil, Autódromo José Carlos Pace, Interlagos

Three-time world champion Max Verstappen sealed another victory by beating polesitter Lando Norris to win the sprint race in Brazil. Sergio Perez took a controlled third place in the 100km dash in Sao Paulo. F1Technical's senior writer Balázs Szabó reports on the F1 Brazil Sprint.

The majority of the field opted for the soft compound with only Kevin Magnussen, Nico Hulkenberg and Logan Sargeant choosing a new set of medium tyres. Of the drivers starting on the soft, only Zhou Guanyu, Valtteri Bottas, Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo opted for a new set as they had plenty of fresh C4 tyres after their early exit in yesterday's qualifying.

Despite starting from pole position, Lando Norris lost out to Max Verstappen on the run to Turn 1 with the Dutchman flying into the lead as the pair approached the first corner. The McLaren racer also lost a position to George Russell, and dropped back to third.

Lewis Hamilton performed a great move on Sergio Perez, and overtook the Mexican with an ambitious manoeuvre on the outside of Turn 4.

The Red Bull driver quickly tried to come back, but he was unable to make a move stick on the start/finish straight. However, the next lap saw Hamilton lose a place to Perez as the Mexican overtook the Briton into Turn 1. Despite trying to fight back, Hamilton was unable to regain third place.

In the meantime, Norris closed in on Russell and got past the Mercedes driver for P2 into the first corner.

Following his heavy crash in the Sprint Shootout, Fernando Alonso was eager to make his way up the order. The Spaniard passed Nico Hulkenberg before also making a successful move on Kevin Magnussen on Lap 6.

On Lap 10, Perez overtook Russell, making the move stick into Turn 1. Although the Briton had DRS out of Turn 3, he was unable to fight back against the mighty top speed of the Red Bull RB19.

Two laps later, Daniel Ricciardo closed in on Carlos Sainz and managed to pass the Spaniard. However, the two-time F1 winner fought back and regained his position on the run to Turn 4.

Alonso caught Pierre Gasly, the driver who took his Alpine seat at the beginning of the year, and overtook the Frenchman with an aggressive move into Turn 4.

Despite losing time to Hamilton in the opening stages of the race, Charles Leclerc managed to close in on the Mercedes racer and overtook him into Turn 1. A lap later, Hamilton dropped further back as he lost a position to AlphaTauri's Yuki Tsunoda.

In the meantime, Ricciardo passed Oscar Piastri, who lost a few places on the opening lap when he ran wide at Turn 4.

There was no change at the sharp end of the field as Verstappen took a controlled victory ahead of Norris and his team-mate Perez.

George Russell started to lose grip in the closing stages, but he came home in a distant fourth, followed by Leclerc, Tsunoda with Hamilton and Sainz taking the last point-scoring places.