F1 Sprint Results: Lando Norris survives late scare to hold off surprise driver in Brazil

F1 drivers' championship leader Lando Norris managed to stave off a surprise threat from Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli to take the sprint race victory at the 2025 Brazilian Grand Prix.

Antonelli lined up alongside Norris in the penultimate sprint event of the season on Saturday but the McLaren star managed to lead every lap from pole to pick up eight vital points in his championship, with the Italian teenager crossing the line in P2.

As a result, Norris has now extended his lead in the drivers' standings to nine points after closest contender Oscar Piastri crashed out of the sprint after just six laps.

George Russell finished P3 on Saturday as reigning champion Max Verstappen crossed the line in P4 and Charles Leclerc rounded out the top five in the first race of the weekend.

Only 18 drivers lined up on the grid ahead of Saturday's race after Yuki Tsunoda and Carlos Sainz were forced to start from the pit lane, and only 17 crossed the line after two major incidents bookended the event.

Chaos ensued on lap six of the 24-lap race after Piastri appeared to pick up water off the kerb, spinning straight into the barriers at Turn 3 and prompting the sprint to be red-flagged.

Nico Hulkenberg and Franco Colapinto also got caught up in the incident, and though Sauber were able to carry out repairs to Hulkenberg's car in time for the rolling restart at 11:35am local time (BRT), Alpine's Colapinto was ruled out of the race.

Piastri's crash resulted in a second consecutive non-scoring sprint for the McLaren driver, something that could prove hugely significant in the championship, especially with McLaren facing the challenge of repairing Piastri’s car ahead of qualifying later on Saturday.

Home hero Gabriel Bortoleto was being cheered on by the Brazilian crowd on the final lap when he also crashed out, prompting the eventful sprint to finish under yellow flag conditions. Sauber now have their work cut out to repair his vehicle for the vital grand prix qualifying.

F1 Results: Brazilian Grand Prix Sprint 2025

*Oliver Bearman and Liam Lawson were handed five-second penalties

Who is the current F1 world champion?

Max Verstappen is the reigning F1 champion and won his fourth drivers' championship last year.

2025 F1 drivers' championship standings

F1 HEADLINES: McLaren lose Zak Brown as team revamp ahead of Brazilian GP

Written by

Kerry Violet - F1 News Editor

Having graduated from the University of Sheffield with a 2:1 in Journalism in 2022, Kerry continued her pursuit of finding a full-time position in motorsport through work with the F1 Arcade in London, where she got to meet true fans of the sport and make a live grand prix watch party memorable for them. It was here that she confirmed her dream of combining her background in journalism and love of motorsport, going on to volunteer with the female-led platform Empoword Journalism. Having completed stints as a screen editor and sports editor, Kerry landed her first F1-specific editorial role with GPFans and has thoroughly enjoyed continuing to work closely with the sport ever since. The access GPFans offers Kerry has allowed her to interview big names such as Naomi Schiff and David Coulthard and given her experiences she could only have dreamt of as a young F1 fan.

View full biography

Related

More F1 news

Latest F1 news

Thieves target F1 star during summer break

• 9 minutes ago

F1 News Today: Verstappen's ulterior motive to leave Red Bull as Newey reveals blossoming relationship

• 47 minutes ago

F1 world champion Lando Norris' brother just helped his title rival by building him a £30k gadget

• 1 hour ago

Racing star was destined for F1, now he'll be racing in Formula E

• 2 hours ago

Iconic F1 car made famous by Michael Schumacher is up for auction and could cost £500,000

• 2 hours ago

F1 boss called out after branding Lewis Hamilton clothing 'ridiculous'

• Today 13:10