Oscar Piastri at centre of cheeky Lando Norris moment after Brazil sprint ‘win’

Lando Norris may have taken victory at the Brazilian GP sprint race this weekend, but it seems that not everyone got the memo!

In the post-sprint press conference, a broadcaster congratulated second-placed Oscar Piastri on a victory that didn’t actually materialize — and that Piastri handled with grace.

Oscar Piastri congratulated for Brazilian sprint race ‘win’

The penultimate sprint race of the F1 2024 season has come to its conclusion in Brazil, with McLaren’s Lando Norris taking a victory over teammate Oscar Piastri after the latter was advised to give way to the former due to the tight nature of the title battle between Norris and reigning champion Max Verstappen.

Polesitter Oscar Piastri launched into the lead of the Brazilian sprint race, holding off his teammate’s strong advance into Turn 1. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc held onto third, with Max Verstappen fighting hard for that final podium position.

Not long into the 24-lap race, Norris called into McLaren to point out that the team had “spoken about this” — perhaps regarding him running behind his teammate.

Piastri didn’t make it easy for Norris, and as the laps ticked by, the pressure mounted. Verstappen initiated a pass on Leclerc for third, just before the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg pulled off onto the side of the road.

With a Virtual Safety Car imminent, Piastri relented his lead, handing it to his teammate. The race returned to green-flag conditions partway through the final lap, and Verstappen was unable to challenge for second place.

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However, in the FIA’s post-sprint press conference, it seemed as if some folks hadn’t realized that Norris ultimately took victory.

“Congratulations, Oscar, for your win,” a presenter said before asking a question of both McLaren teammates.

All three drivers in the press conference had a quiet laugh, looking at one another to confirm that they all heard the same thing. Indeed, Piastri had just been applauded for victory!

The young Australian driver handled to situation with ease, saying, “I don’t know what I won, but thank you” before answering the rest of the question — which centered around how the team is managing its objectives with just four grands prix remaining in F1 2024.

“I think we just demonstrated what the short and long-term objectives are,” Piastri continued.

“The long-term objective is to win everything we can. So I think that’s quite clear.

“And in the short term, there’s two championships at stake and I’m really only involved in one. So that’s where I sit with it.”

Norris added his own perspective, saying, “Oscar said it well. We’ve helped each other over the last two years for different things.

“I think it’s one of our strengths is we work very well as a team. I don’t think there’s probably any other team on the grid that work as well. So I’m proud about all of that.”

It may not have been a win for Piastri, but the aftermath of the sprint did bring another victory for McLaren: Max Verstappen was handed a five-second penalty for infringing on VSC restart procedures, dropping him down to fourth place and depriving Verstappen of yet another point in the critical title fight.

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