Piastri on sprint race pole pole but Norris needs him to play number two · RaceFans

McLaren have locked out the front row of the grid for the penultimate sprint race of the season.

There is the small detail that their drivers aren’t in the ideal order, as championship contender Lando Norris lost pole position to his team mate Oscar Piastri yesterday. But the team has indicated it is prepared to intervene to change that if needed.

McLaren knows that Norris needs to get as many points as possible in his pursuit of Max Verstappen to somehow make up the 47-point deficit before the end in Abu Dhabi and they need Piastri to play a critical part in helping him out in that endeavour. But ever since team principal Andrea Stella confirmed that the team would “bias” support for Norris from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Piastri has either finished ahead of his team mate – as in Baku – or finished behind Verstappen as he did in Singapore, the United States and Mexico.

Although there is only one additional point between winning the sprint race and finishing second, that’s not a difference Norris or McLaren have the luxury of giving up. So if Piastri keeps the lead at the start of tomorrow’s sprint race, we could see him being asked to move aside to benefit his team mate for the first time in the championship.

Whatever happens into turn one and beyond, McLaren have to be extremely careful not to afford any opportunity to Charles Leclerc and Verstappen behind them on the grid – two drivers who will be looking to break up the two McLaren team mates and get ahead of them for their own championship ambitions. But with the three tenths of a second gap between Verstappen and the McLarens on the grid the furthest that Verstappen has been from them since Baku, Saturday’s sprint race will be a clear indicator of just how far off his rival the championship leader could be in the more important and valuable race of the weekend on Sunday.

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Weather

Although clouds gathered overhead for the start of sprint qualifying, no rain eventually ended up falling over the circuit during the session.

There is a gradually growing threat of rain for the following two days of the weekend, however, with forecasts now predicting there will be more rain coming over the next two days of the weekend than previously expected.

At this stage, it still appears unlikely that the sprint race itself will be wet. The rain is still expected to arrive later in the day at 3pm local time – too late to affect the sprint race but potentially putting it in the middle of Saturday’s grand prix qualifying session.

Start

With Interlagos the only circuit on the calendar to have held sprint rounds every season since the format was introduced back in 2021, it’s the only venue that has three years of sprints to look back on.

Looking at the stats, Norris can feel good about his chances of victory on Saturday morning. Not only has the driver on pole never won the sprint race at Interlagos, second position on the starting grid is the most successful position, with both Valtteri Bottas and Verstappen winning from second in 2021 and 2023.

If – and when – Piastri allows Norris to pass him will be an interesting question for McLaren. Norris starts on the left hand side of the grid, meaning he will have the perfect line into the first corner to get by his team mate. Even if they go side-by-side, Piastri will have to lift on the inside of the right hander of turn two, which may see Norris sweep around him instead.

But McLaren can’t be too careful. With Leclerc and Verstappen behind them looking for any opportunity to get by, it may prove most efficient for the McLarens to get around the first lap unscathed and then worry about orchestrating the pass when DRS is activated.

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Strategy

The sprint races at Interlagos have seen more variation in strategy than most over the years. Notably in the first held in 2021, where the field of 20 cars were split nearly 50-50 between C4 softs and C3 mediums. Winner Bottas opted for the softs on that occasion.

The 2022 sprint race saw the vast majority of the first opt for C4 soft tyres, but Verstappen was one of only two who chose the C3 mediums – the second straight year he took that approach. While it allowed him to get by pole winner Kevin Magnussen, he was passed for the win by George Russell on the softs.

Last year, the C4 softs were again the preferred choice, with all of the top ten starts picking them for the sprint race – including Verstappen – this time around. But for this weekend, Pirelli have brought a softer range of compounds to Brazil, meaning the C4 compound is now this weekend’s medium.

Based on historic patterns, the mediums should therefore be the most popular choice on Saturday. But with the resurfaced circuit confounding proving more abrasive than many drivers expected, there’s potential for some surprises.

Overtaking

As none of the sprint race pole winners has converted their position into victory and with no pit stops during sprint races, they have had to be passed on-track during the races.

Valtteri Bottas, Sauber, Interlagos, 2024 — Passing is easier at Interlagos than other tracks

In both 2021 and 2023, the pass for the win was made in the opening metres down to the Senna Esses. Magnussen held the lead well in his Haas in 2022, but lost it at the start of the third lap into turn one – the first time along the pit straight with DRS activated.

While several circuits on the calendar may offer little in the way of overtaking opportunities, the same cannot be said of Interlagos. Naturally the most obvious points are into the Senna Esses and Descida do Lago, but the DRS detection zone at the apex of the second turn means that if a driver makes a move into the first corner, they may find themselves under attack soon after.

With plenty of lower-percentage passing points in the twisty middle sector, running softs could be more of a risk in the later part of the race as it could become especially difficult to keep cars behind.

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Safety Cars

Although Interlagos is known for producing some of the more exciting and eventful races on the calendar, the three sprint races held here have seen little in the way of accidents. In fact, a driver has failed to finish the sprint race in Interlagos only once in 60 attempts so far – when Alexander Albon retired with damage in 2022.

Unsurprisingly, therefore, no Safety Cars or Virtual Safety Cars have been deployed during any of the three sprint races here before. Should there be, it tends to work more favourably for drivers who opt for soft rubber – if anyone is brave enough to use it on a surface Albon likened to “sandpaper” – as it will help them to stretch their tyres to the end of the 24 laps.

One to watch

Oliver Bearman, Haas, Interlagos, 2024 — Bearman impressively out-qualified Hulkenberg

Considering he only found out he was going to be driving at half past six on Friday morning, Oliver Bearman did an impressive job to jump straight into the Haas and reach SQ3 – unlike team mate Nico Hulkenberg.

Bearman has a perfect record of points finishes from his two grand prix starts in Jeddah and Baku so far. He’s never started a sprint race before, but while he starts from tenth, he showed in SQ2 that he more than had the pace to start much higher, having posted a 1’09.629 – quick enough to go eighth, on the medium compound.

He will need to gain two places to score another point and keep his record going. It will be tough, but can he make it happen?

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