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LANDO NORRIS FLIES IN BRAZIL, WIDENS LEAD OVER MCLAREN RIVAL OSCAR PIASTRI

Lando Norris won the Brazilian Grand Prix sprint race, taking a 9-point championship lead after rival Piastri crashed out early at Interlagos. Norris held off Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli (2nd) in the chaotic, wet-tinged race, with Verstappen finishing 4th

Lando Norris flies in Brazil, widens lead over McLaren rival Oscar Piastri
Lando Norris of Britain greets fans after winning the sprint race ahead of the Brazilian Formula 1 Grand Prix - AP Photo/Ettore Chiereguini

Following his colleague and primary adversary Oscar Piastri's failure to complete the 24 laps at the historic and partly wet Interlagos track, Lando Norris won the sprint race on Saturday at the Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix, increasing his lead in the drivers' title race to nine points. After starting at the top of the standings, Norris gained eight more points to reach 365. Piastri, along with Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Alpine's Franco Colapinto, skidded around turn three and slammed into the wall. He is still in 356 ahead of Sunday's race. At Interlagos, qualifying will happen later.

In a sprint race that was also filled with collisions, featuring Sauber's home crowd favourite Gabriel Bortoleto being hard-hit onto the wall in the final lap, the McLaren driver finished ahead of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes.

After the McLaren driver lost some of his lead because of soft tyres, Antonelli finished just 0.845 seconds behind Norris.

After the sprint race, Norris remarked, "Kimi definitely was not making my life easier." "A tough race is to be expected in Brazil; it is definitely not going to be easy."

Max Verstappen of Red Bull crossed the finish line in fourth place and shook his head in dismay. He currently has 326 after adding five more to his total.

The Ferrari vehicles did not perform well in the sprint race; Lewis Hamilton and Charles LeClerc finished in seventh and fifth place, respectively.

Recently, Norris won in Mexico City.

Piastri was only 0.185 seconds behind Norris, who won the sprint pole by a mere 0.097 seconds over Antonelli.

Piastri has been having trouble lately; he has lost five races and has not placed on the podium since finishing third in Monza, Italy, two months ago.

Due to the red flag raised by the events involving Piastri, Colapinto, and Hulkenberg on lap six, Norris was able to swap to soft tyres and maintain a dominant position for the whole of the sprint race.

Verstappen, who hopes to become the fourth driver to win five world championships, has won in Brazil before, having started from 17th place and gone on to win in 2019, 2023, and 2024.

Rain is predicted for the remainder of Saturday and Sunday. Because of the heavy rains a year ago, the qualifying was postponed until Sunday.

On team radio after his crash, Bortoleto claimed he was fine, although Sauber confirmed he would be examined by a doctor as a precaution.

LANDO NORRIS SINGLE: F1 CHAMPION CONFIRMS SPLIT FROM MAGUI CORCEIRO IN LEAKED VIDEO

F1 heartbreak: Analyse Lando Norris's split from Magui Corceiro, the "single man" leak, and their on-off relationship history.

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TikTok video captures Lando Norris confirming his breakup in Bahrain

Looks like Formula One world champion Lando Norris and his supermodel girlfriend, Magui Corceiro, have split up. The two started dating in 2023 and had a pretty on-and-off thing. She was right there with him when he won the title in Abu Dhabi – definitely an emotional night for both of them.

But now, it seems like it’s over. According to the Sun, a TikTok video caught Norris telling Carlos Sainz Jr that he’s “a single man". The audio’s not great, but you can hear Sainz asking if he and Magui are okay, and Lando just says, “No,” then adds that he’s single. This happened during pre-season testing in Bahrain while the drivers were getting their photos taken.

Magui, who’s also an actress from Portugal, used to date footballer Joao Felix before Lando. She and Norris broke up in 2024 and got back together, but it looks like they’ve called it quits again. People close to them say there’ve been signs for a while; things changed after Lando’s big championship win. The most obvious clue? Magui wasn’t at Lando’s big thank-you party in Bahrain, even though everyone else was there. Naturally, that got people talking.

Back in December, Magui broke down in tears after Norris won the world championship. She gave an interview to TV Guia, saying how happy they both were and how, in that moment, she forgot about the cameras. It all seemed pretty solid then.

Magui’s got a huge social following – around 800,000 fans on TikTok – and she’s done everything from acting in Portuguese dramas to modelling for brands like Intimissimi and Alo Yoga. She was even on Portugal’s Dancing with the Stars in 2020 and co-founded the eco swimwear brand Missus. She’s graced Vogue Portugal, too.

Norris himself talked about Magui in Vogue, saying they met a few years ago but only got together more recently. He called her “down to earth” and said he can just be himself around her. Apparently, he kept trying to get her into golf, but she hated it.

Neither of them has officially announced the breakup, but at this point, it looks like they’ve gone their separate ways.

DISASTER WARNING: OSCAR PIASTRI FEARS 2026 RACE STARTS COULD LEAD TO MULTI-CAR GRID ACCIDENTS

Oscar Piastri warns of chaos at the 2026 start! Discover why the new rules are a "recipe for disaster" and how McLaren found "warp speed."

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Piastri warns that clean launches now depend more on chance than skill

Oscar Piastri thinks there’s a lot of luck involved in getting a good start these days. Pre-season testing in Bahrain really made it clear that these new 2026 F1 rules have turned race starts into a much bigger headache.

He’s spoken up about this before, especially since so many teams and drivers are running into fresh problems under the new regs. The big one? F1 dropped the MGU-H from the engine formula, and suddenly, starts just aren’t as smooth. It’s a mess.

After last week’s first official test in Bahrain, Piastri didn’t sugarcoat it. He called the 2026 start a “recipe for disaster” because of how wildly different every driver’s launch is. Even the FIA and F1 noticed, so they decided to test out a longer starting procedure during the second test.

Here’s what they did: during the second test, they delayed the starting lights, giving drivers more time to spool up their turbos. Ferrari’s 2026 engine features a smaller turbo, allowing its drivers to maintain lower revs for longer periods. Others? They’re sitting there for up to ten seconds, just waiting.

Piastri says the new procedures and the extra week of testing in Bahrain helped a bit; things aren’t quite as all over the place now. But he’s honest: there’s still a ton of luck involved if you want to get a clean launch and avoid turbo lag or wheelspin.

Holding high revs to prime the turbo, now that the MGU-H is gone, is just one of the traps drivers can fall into. Piastri figures it’s going to take a while before all 22 drivers on the grid are nailing their starts every time.

He summed it up at the press conference in Bahrain: “Mine yesterday wasn’t so bad. I was last, but I also overtook four cars. There’s still a lot of luck involved, and we’re learning what makes a good start and what makes a bad one.

“There are a few pitfalls you can run into that cause problems. Managing the energy and the whole procedure – that’s one thing.

“The way we start is just totally different from last year. It’s trickier across the board. Some drivers are handling it; some just aren’t.”

On the other hand, McLaren looked like they were getting the hang of it by the last day of testing. Jolyon Palmer, watching from the sidelines, was impressed by Piastri’s practice start but even more blown away by Lando Norris.

Palmer thought McLaren had cracked the code. On Friday, Piastri shot off the line in the morning, but Norris outdid everyone in the final session. Palmer joked that Norris hit “warp speed".

He said on the F1 broadcast, “Warp speed, see you mate! That’s a brilliant start from Lando. McLaren is there. I’ve seen it all day. Oscar got a great start. In the pit lane, it looks good.

“I’d love to see that next to the Ferrari, honestly, because it’s really impressive. Their start is much better than Red Bull’s. I’d say it’s even better than Mercedes.”

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