Brazilian GP F1 qualifying postponed because of heavy rain

Qualifying for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix has been postponed until Sunday morning, with persistent rain at Interlagos forcing the FIA’s hand. It came as another storm brewed in the F1 paddock, as Red Bull accused McLaren illegally filling their tyres with water to improve their performance.
Earlier in the day, McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri claimed a one-two in Saturday’s sprint race, allowing Norris to close the gap to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen at the top of the drivers’ standings to 44 points.
Norris admitted he was “not proud” of the way he won, with Piastri pulling aside with a few laps before the end to gift him the victory. But the Briton added that the team had done “what we had to do”.
Verstappen finished third but was later demoted to fourth for an infringement behind a late virtual safety car (VSC). 
Will Verstappen be penalised for attempted overtake on Piastri? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/P2WPS3yncA
McLaren only just managed to switch their drivers before the VSC was deployed following Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg’s retirement, and its timing, right after McLaren’s switch and as Verstappen was closing on Piastri to try to take second place, raised a few eyebrows. RB’s Liam Lawson described it as “unbelievable”.
The main talking point of the race, though, was McLaren’s team orders. Piastri had told Telegraph Sport on Friday that he would pull over if asked by his team to do so, and the Australian was as good as his word, albeit McLaren missed the chance to do it earlier in the race, when Verstappen and Leclerc were busy with each other. There would have been questions asked had McLaren failed to engineer the win for Norris. 
“We spoke about it before the race, when we were going to swap,” Piastri said later. “We pulled it off as well as we could. 
“I mean, it’s not as fun as winning. But I know the position we’re in. We’ve talked about it for months now. It’s the first time we’ve had to enforce it. But we knew it was something that could or would happen at some point.”
Norris, who went over to thank his team-mate after getting out of his car, admitted it was not the way he wanted to win. “Yep, not proud about it. But we worked well as a team. Oscar deserved it. But we did what we had to do. I thank the team and we had good pace so it bodes well for tomorrow.”
Lando 🤝 Oscar#BrazilGP 🇧🇷 pic.twitter.com/bIky0JfD7v
Norris now trails the Red Bull driver by 44 points heading into Sunday’s grand prix, for which Verstappen will have a five-place grid penalty. 
No news yet from the FIA about qualifying tomorrow but I imagine it will be something like 10am local time, 1pm our time. Or perhaps a even earlier, but that is just me having an educated guess. The race itself is due to start at 6pm, so you would want as much time as possible.
“This is ridiculous I want to go out!”Lewis Hamilton 🤝 Stefano Domenicali pic.twitter.com/ocx2GH2nSt
The decision was taken due to the lack of visibility caused by the level of rain we have experienced in the past few hours. There is a lot of standing water on parts of the circuit which renders conditions unsafe.
As much as we would all like to see competition on track, the safety of drivers, team members, volunteers, officials and spectators is our main priority.

A decision on a start time for Qualifying tomorrow morning will be taken as soon as possible.
We assume they will try and get the session done tomorrow morning but we await confirmation.
UPDATE: QUALIFYING HAS BEEN POSTPONED More details to follow… #F1 #BrazilGP
The conditions are probably as bad as they have been for quite a while now. I think we will be calling this all off very shortly indeed. 
We still await confirmation of what session will set the grid if they cannot even get qualifying in tomorrow. That is obviously dependent on the weather and the time tomorrow. The priority, if there is any time to do any running tomorrow (there should be), is that they get the race (or some race) done. No point trying to get the qualifying done and then not having the race. 
The rain is still falling and the track is not drying out. The FIA could call this all off at 8pm GMT and then they will try and schedule qualifying for early tomorrow local time. 
What a surprise. 
…and keep pushing the start time back. Or whether they try and give it a go in these conditions soonish. They are currently not fit for qualifying, though, having worsened in the last 15 minutes or so. 
7.45pm is the new estimated start time. ‘Estimated’ not really grounded in reality, though. Also from the FIA: “The rain intensity has now increased and visibility is getting worse.”
UPDATE: The estimated starting time for qualifying is now 16:45 (local time)#F1 #BrazilGP pic.twitter.com/IevSpgYqza
On full wets. Definitely. Whether you could get 20 of them around it multiple times trying to set fast laps without crashing, I am more doubtful. 
‘Tis very wet #F1 #BrazilGP pic.twitter.com/qOLmlJpDcB
They might be able to get one in tomorrow morning, but if they cannot (it is due to rain tomorrow too) then first practice times could set the grid. Norris was fastest in that and Verstappen was 15th… and he will also take a five-place grid penalty.
Anyway, the Safety Car has gone out again, presumably with the race director in it.
7.30pm GMT, then. 
“The Race Director has been on track for his inspection but there is still too much standing water,” say the FIA. 
There are still rivers trickling down high parts of the track to the low parts. It is still remarkably gloomy. The FIA have obviously tried to be flexible and dynamic in having the teams ready to go now so they can take advantage of any gaps in the weather. But will there be gaps long enough with enough easing that we can get a qualifying session going? I am not sure. 
It is still raining, quite heavily, and the track is not exactly clear of standing water though there are vehicles and people out there trying to get rid of it. The FIA Safety Car is out there at the moment too. 
The concern would also be, obviously, that you start in marginal conditions and then someone bins it and causes another delay. Anyway, we await any further news but it doesn’t look great out there.
“I think it’s great to see these juniors doing a great job… Franco again is a kid that’s doing really well. Of course, you are always keeping an eye on the driver market. Franco has the qualities to be a potential star of the future.”
Colapinto is currently driving for Williams after being drafted in to replaced Logan Sargeant, but has no race seat for next year. Williams have said that he will be a reserve driver if there’s no race seat. But might there be a race seat in the Red Bull stable?
7.15pm GMT is what the FIA have advised.
On the weather:
“It looks like there’s a bit of a gap in the weather… this is as probably as good as it’ll get, if we don’t get on with it we’ll run out of daylight.”
On the deployment of the VSC which hampered Verstappen:
“These things are all subjective. If you look at it from our perspective you’d say it took an awful long time to throw that VSC. I am sure in the control tower they had their reasons for doing that but we are not privy to them. It’s annoying but it is what it is.”
On their sprint race performance:
“I thought our pace in the race was very good. The fact Max could follow so closely and get that pass done on Charles… think how things have moved in just five days. This is a completely different challenge in this weather, so we’ll see.”
The current view from above 👀#F1 #BrazilGP pic.twitter.com/lrObPiLnxs
Not exactly dry…
That is estimated and not guaranteed and relies on conditions being good enough to start, obviously. Still, some optimisim out there. 
Here are the conditions trackside, though. Those run-off areas look… soggy. 
Partly just because but also because qualifying in the wet is always fun. That said, the forecast tomorrow is for rain too so we might well end up with a wet qualifying and a wet race all in one. Still, when the conditions are as they are (below) can you grumble too much?
Not exactly…
1804GMT: Rain rates have now dropped to 9 to 22mm/hr. So it’s heading in the right direction but with periodic heavier bursts still possible for a bit longer. Approaching an inch of rain now in past 50 minutes (22mm)
 
He defeated Felipe Massa by a single point in the closest championship in history. I spoke with Rob Smedley, Massa’s race engineer about Massa’s 2008 campaign, the Brazilian’s life-threatening accident the following year as well as his time at Ferrari.
You can read the full piece here while you wait for news on the F1. 
This could rumble on, I fear. There is not unlimited daylight in Brazil and they might decide to stop waiting and reschedule qualifying for tomorrow morning long before sunset, in any case. 
Man with broom doing a sterling job of keeping the rain out of media centre beneath paddock pic.twitter.com/xV6pnzfoam
Media centre at Interlagos is in a new location this year. In a tent in a car park beneath the paddock. Fair to say it’s struggling with the volume of rain currently lashing down. Puddles on the floor. Electrical wires submerged. Not easy to nip up to the paddock for a quick word with anyone either. 
A carp ark would be more fitting than a car park in these conditions…
He doesn’t think that we will get qualifying done today. 
“I think that we will have to wake up quite early tomorrow morning for the quali. I don’t know about the tarmac… we already have lakes in some corners… it will be difficult.”
This is going to be a lengthy delay, I fear. 
The FIA confirms that the session will not start at its scheduled time of 6pm GMT. The next update will be then.
Drop the video pls @LewisHamilton 🙏 pic.twitter.com/5dvx9M29Vr
It’s good news in one way for McLaren as Norris now only trails by 44 points. Ferrari gain a point on them in the constructors’ championship, though. 
1730GMT: The zone of heavy thunderstorms extends northwards to about 30km distance. Its southward movement is pretty slow (10kmh), hence MeteoFrance forecasters for FIA cautioning that it’ll take a while to clear & certainly not by scheduled start of the Q hour.
Looking at the intensity of the rain at the track it certainly looks likely. Always a risk in Brazil at this time of year.
To use IndyCar parlance, we have most definitely ‘lost the track’ ahead of GP qualifying in São Paulo. pic.twitter.com/TGpCNG59lE
Crikey pic.twitter.com/33IvvrL7Zo
He will take a five-place grid penalty for tomorrow’s race for an unscheduled ICE change. That means if he qualifies first he will start sixth. The good news for him is that his Red Bull’s pace in the sprint race looked decent and Ferrari’s was surprisingly bad. Interlagos is also a track that promotes overtaking. Rain might help his cause too, given how good he is when it’s damp. 
This from Autosport’s Jon Noble at the track…
Look what’s coming…. pic.twitter.com/gWoqYHf7Fa
Maybe, just maybe…
1656GMT: Showers/thunderstorms now within 3 to 5km of circuit. Potential for rain ahead of Q is high, but many teams will be hoping for a close shave & staying dry…
That drops him from fourth to fifth and he loses a point and Charles Leclerc gains one. That means Norris trails Verstappen now by 44 points. He also gained a penalty point on his racing licence. 
Here is the FIA’s verdict on the incident: 
The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 1 (Max Verstappen), team representative and reviewed positioning/marshalling system data, timing, telemetry evidence.
Article 56.6 states in part “All cars must also be above this minimum time when the FIA light panels change to green”. 
The driver was 0.63 seconds below the minimum time when at VSC End when the FIA light panels changed to green. This inidcates a sporting advantage gained under VSC. 
The driver explained that he was awaiting the VSC to end and he got the notification that he was below the minimum time, he attempted to correct the error but failed to do so by the point that the panels turned green. This is a breach and the standard penalty is applied for the advantage gained at that time.
The net effect of this put the driver ahead of where he was at the start of the VSC and not as a result of the car in front falling back. 
Lando Norris admitted he was “not proud” of the way he won Saturday’s sprint race in Brazil after McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri pulled aside with a few laps remaining to gift him the victory. But the Briton added that the team had done “what we had to do”.
Norris’ win allowed him to take three points out of Max Verstappen, who finished third but was later demoted to fourth, in the drivers’ championship. The McLaren driver now trails the Red Bull driver by 44 points ahead of Sunday’s grand prix, for which Verstappen will have a five-place grid penalty. But it was far from straightforward.
McLaren only just managed to switch their drivers before a late virtual safety car (VSC) was deployed following Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg’s retirement.
The timing of that safety car also raised a few eyebrows, right after McLaren’s switch and as Verstappen was closing on Piastri to try to take second place. RB’s Liam Lawson described it as “unbelievable”.
But it got worse for Verstappen as a stewards’ investigation into his driving under the VSC him handed a five-second penalty that dropped him behind the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc into fourth place, having breached the minimum lap time behind the VSC by six-tenths of a second.
Another look at that CLOSE CALL between Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen 👀 pic.twitter.com/Boj7n8jXxe
The Dutch driver, who criticised the driving of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc during the race, lamenting the Monegasque’s “many mistakes” before eventually passing him on lap 18, was clearly exasperated by the timing of the VSC, asking his team to check that Piastri was not “driving slow on purpose”. He made one big acceleration behind him at one point.
In the end, Verstappen had one lap in which to pass Piastri after the VSC was withdrawn, but failed to do so.
The main talking point of the race, though, was McLaren’s team orders. Piastri had told Telegraph Sport on Friday that he would pull over if asked by his team to do so, and the Australian was as good as his word. Albeit McLaren missed the chance to do it earlier in the race, when Verstappen and Leclerc were busy with each other.
There would have been questions asked had they failed to engineer the win for their leading driver.
“We spoke about it before the race, when we were going to swap,” Piastri said later. “We pulled it off as well as we could.
“I mean, it’s not as fun as winning. But I know the position we’re in. We’ve talked about it for months now. It’s the first time we’ve had to enforce it. But we knew it was something that could or would happen at some point.”
Norris, who went over to thank his team-mate after getting out of his car, admitted it was not the way he wanted to win.
“Yep, not proud about it. But we worked well as a team. Oscar deserved it. But we did what we had to do. I thank the team and we had good pace so it bodes well for tomorrow.”
Though Verstappen has just been spotted heading to the stewards, it seems. In any case, with only a point likely at stake we will leave you for now and return at around 5pm GMT ahead of qualifying for the main grand prix. 
Will Verstappen be penalised for attempted overtake on Piastri? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/P2WPS3yncA
…on what Verstappen’s infringement was. It does seem likely to be that incident with Piastri, though. As I said if it’s a five-second time penalty that is only enough to drop him back one place and thus one point.
It’s a Papaya 1-2 in the #F1SPRINT. Mega performance from both drivers. Lando P1 and Oscar P2. The race went according to plan, and Oscar demonstrated what a great team player he is. Let’s keep pushing at the #BrazilGP! 👏 pic.twitter.com/ohD3STZYzV
No driver likes handing positions over to his team-mate. I think the start of next year it will be fascinating to see which McLaren driver asserts his authority over the other. Of course it could just be very close again. The pair are very closely matched. 
“On everything we can see it looks OK but let’s see. He was just conscious that there wasn’t a gap, that Oscar wasn’t dropping back from Lando. I think the most encouraging thing for us in that race was the race pace was decent… to stick on the tail of Charles was encouraging.”
“Not proud about it but we worked well as a team together, that’s why I thank Oscar. Oscar deserved it but, yeah, we did what we had to do. It’s tough, it was yo-yoing a little bit… it’s just the dirty air here costs you a lot of lap time. I felt a bit quicker but I couldn’t pass at the time. We executed it well.”
“It was a bit tricky to be honest. Very bumpy as we know. The racing line was incredibly narrow… a great day from the team and a lot of points. I think we learnt a lot for the race tomorrow as well. Yeah, happy. I think the pace looked OK but the Ferrari was very quick at the start and Max was very quick at the end.”
“Yeah, it was quite a tricky race but I think the pace was very good because we could always follow the DRS. It took a bit too long for Charles… I had to wait for some mistakes and I could use that to my advantage. Today was good. I still expect them to be really quick over one lap but I hope we can limit the damage a bit with of course the five-place grid penalty that I have.”
Hmmmm. He did get very close to Piastri as the VSC ended. Did he try to anticpate when it was going to end and came a cropper? It has been sent to the stewards and not just noted which kind of leans towards that it could be black and white. A five-second penalty would drop him just one place.
This is the moment that could be critical:
Another look at that CLOSE CALL between Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen 👀 pic.twitter.com/Boj7n8jXxe
You see him pull almost level (well, front wheel to rear wheel) before backing off just as the VSC begins. 
All these drivers scored points:
David Croft on Sky Sports says he can hear the disappointment in his voice. I think he sounds like that when he wins or takes pole, though, too?
It’s a 1-2 for McLaren. Norris leads home Piastri with Verstappen third. It’s two points gained for Lando Norris which is something. Not as much as he’d have hoped, perhaps but that’s good. Down to 45 points now. Lead extended for McLaren over Ferrari in the standings. And no team orders issues. Well, that we know of. 
Verstappen nearly gets Piastri as the VSC period ends! They came very close at turn four. Will he get another chance as they dash to the line? It could be close if he gets DRS, which it looks like he will. Norris will win this easily.  Has Piastri got the pace to keep Verstappen at bay? Yes he has. 
That Haas is not in a great position. McLaren were decisive in switching their cars there. It could have all gone wrong. Verstappen questions whether Piastri is going too slowly. The thing under the VSC is that you have to meet a minimum and maximum time. The track is clear and the VSC will be ending soon with less than a lap to go…
Piastri moves over at turn four as the call came to switch positions. Norris takes the lead but Verstappen is right on the back of Piastri now…
Lando Norris TAKES THE LEAD as McLaren make the switch! 🔁 pic.twitter.com/3MbIGdRz2l
Verstappen just gets a bit of a wiggle on the exit of the penultimate turn… and out comes the VSC which helps Piastri, Norris and McLaren.
Nico Hulkenberg is out of the sprint. He has parked up by the side of the track. If there’s a Safety Car that’s a problem for McLaren because they then cannot switch positions. Verstappen 1.2sec behind Norris. 
He does it at turn one, clean as you like. That’s something. Some blueish smoke coming out of the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg? He has dropped down massively here. Yeah, he’s slowing down. 
“Come on mate, let’s chase ‘em down”.
1.4sec the gap from Norris to Verstappen. Replays show Norris getting a bit sideways at turn five, I think. Piastri has extended his lead again to nearly one second…
He goes around the outside of turn four! Leclerc just didn’t have the pace by that point. Ferrari struggling, really. Can Verstappen charge at the McLarens now?
Max Verstappen gets ahead of Charles Leclerc 🤩 pic.twitter.com/gVTroVxr6G
There is now a 1.7sec gap between Norris in second and Leclerc in third. Leclerc has a lot of pressure from Verstappen behind. Can Verstappen make the critical move in the next few laps?
Another lap will go by with no chance to overtake. 
McLaren told that, with the gap to Leclerc as it is, they will wait until the last lap to swap positions. 
Well, pretty much. Hamilton still down in 14th behind Colapinto. He’s been there since the end of lap one. 
Leclerc in trouble here. Running out of battery in defence. 
Verstappen isn’t close enough this time to consider a move on Leclerc. 
He is right on Leclerc’s rear wing on the second straight. He thinks about the move but is patient and calls it off. The McLarens are closer and perhaps this is the moment to switch them. The gap has opened up between Norris in second and Leclerc. 
Here is the top eight and gaps between them, 
Russell is further behind still. Bearman is now in ninth, chasing Lawson for that final point. He executed a superb move on team-mate Nico Hulkenberg at turn one. 
How Ollie Bearman and Sergio Perez got past Nico Hulkenberg 🌟 pic.twitter.com/0bgtLOABLI
That said, Perez has now just passed Bearman and now the Mexican is chasing Lawson.
“Give Lando DRS,” is the order. It’s all very close out there… Norris still in second. 
In fact all top four cars within 2.1sec. Good stuff, this. 
Norris told “keep doing what you’re doing”. “Yeah… whatever,” he says in reply. I mean, it’s a bit confusing if this is the approach from McLaren. Problem is no way now can McLaren switch positions. Piastri would be eaten up and McLaren have a constructors’ title to fight. 
“I’m not really sure what I’m doing here,” he says, hinting that they talked about something earlier. Tactics and if/when Piastri would cede position. Norris makes a bit of a mistake towards the end of the lap which pulls Leclerc and Verstappen closer…
Norris extends his advantage over the Ferrari driver slightly. Verstappen has found a bit of pace here…
 
“Yeah, I’m close,” Norris says. The official timing app says it’s raining trackside but I can’t see where, exactly. In any case it is not significant. 
Norris has DRS on Piastri, Leclerc is close to it on Norris ahead and Verstappen is now within DRS of Leclerc. 
Hulkenberg and Bearman in ninth and 10th. Hamilton still down in 14th. 
Verstappen tries the outside line but Leclerc covers the inside. He then has a look at the inside at turn four but doesn’t fully commit as Leclerc chops across him. Norris has just set the fastest lap of the race out from second. Verstappen is told to “take his time” and that “you know the game”. Leclerc sets the fastest lap which aids his attempt for third. 
Verstappen has DRS down the back straight but isn’t close enough to try a move on Leclerc at turn four. McLaren are starting to edge clearly ahead of the rest of the pack. Verstappen getting close and closer…
Piastri keeps his lead at turn one despite a good start from Norris, moving across to defend the inside line from his McLaren team-mate. Verstappen is all over the back of Leclerc at the start of the lap. Hamilton down three places already…
It’s lights out for the Sao Paulo sprint! 🚦Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris lead the way 🟠 pic.twitter.com/AcyGBRUTN2
Bearman dropped back a place but regains it from Albon to get into the top 10. Leclerc under big pressure from Verstappen. No DRS yet, though.
No surprise to see everyone starting on mediums. 
2. NOR 1. PIA4. VER 3. LEC6. RUS 5. SAI8. LAW 7. GAS10. BEA 9. ALB12. HUL 11. HAM14. COL 13. PER16. OCO 15. BOT                17. TSUPIT LANE: ALO, STR, ZHO
McLaren have looked strong so far. I guess the saving grace for Ferrari is that they can change their set-ups between now and qualifying, they are not locked into them as they were before. Still, you would have expected McLaren to be strong on this configuration. 
“It depends on our pace, over one lap we were too slow. I am hoping we can be competitive now in the sprint.”
Unassuming Australian driver, who could play a major part in who wins the world championship, believes he can get even better. Read his exclusive interview with Tom Cary here.
I would suspect there will be a few investigations as this track layout promotes it, especially at turn four. We saw Alonso and Perez have a ding-dong battle there last year.
 
Zhou Guanyu, Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll are all set to start from the pit lane in today’s sprint race 👀 pic.twitter.com/ciMpnniFiT
Looks like there is a chance of light showers throughout the day, with the greatest chance between 11am and noon local time and the race begins at 11am…
It seems amazing that Perez even has one against Verstappen. Piastri’s sprint pole comes very much against the grain at McLaren. Oliver Bearman is doing a sterling job at Haas. This will be his second race for the team and both times he has qualified higher than Nico Hulkenberg, who is a fine driver over one lap himself. 
He qualified 11th yesterday and was asked whether he had any hopes of improvement in the sprint, grand prix qualifying and the main race. 
“It will be what it will be. I’m not really massively bothered if I’m honest,” he replied. That probably just about sums up his year. It has not been a good one and now he trails Russell 19-6 in all qualifying formats in 2024. Ouch. Still, he is moving to Ferrari next year…
There have been many of them this season. He did at least make it out of SQ1 but 13th is hardly the type of performance that will see Red Bull keep faith with him. Unless he dramatically turns around his form in the next four races, finishing perhaps directly behind Max Verstappen each time, then he is surely not going to be racing in that Red Bull seat in 2025. And probably not in F1 at all, either. 
That would be a sad end to a fine career for the Mexican. He was for a while – probably between 2021 until perhaps mid-way through 2023 – the perfect second driver at Red Bull. But now his poor form, with just one sixth place his best finish since Miami, is costing the team. By putting Liam Lawson alongside Verstappen next year they have nothing to lose. 
Oliver Bearman – who will race for Haas in 2025 – was drafted in as Kevin Magnussen’s replacement at Haas yesterday. The initial plan was to have him take part in the sprint qualifying and the sprint today with the hope that the Dane would be fit enough to do main qualifying and the race tomorrow. 
However that is not the case so Bearman will do the whole weekend, his second for Haas and third of the year after deputising for Carlos Sainz in Saudi Arabia this spring. He has been very quick so far and could arguably be starting higher than 10th in the sprint, but for a mistake early in his lap. 
Welcome to our coverage for F1’s super saturday with the sprint race of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix in Brazil coming up first, and qualifying for Sunday’s main race later this evening. Interlagos is the only track that has held a sprint race every year since their inception and it just makes sense. It’s a great track that promotes overtaking and can even encourage the odd mistake. Plus the weather can often play a part at this time of year. 
What have we got in store for us today? Well, the McLaren looked the class of the field yesterday in sprint qualifying. Lando Norris looked to be nailed on for pole position but it was his team-mate Oscar Piastri who snuck in at the end of SQ3 and pipped him to pole position. Norris’s championship rival Max Verstappen put in a decent lap but one that was good enough for fourth. Charles Leclerc was third for Ferrari, with team-mate Carlos Sainz in fifth and George Russell sixth. 
With a 47-point championship deficit, this weekend’s format (with eight points available for the sprint race winner and one for the eighth-placed driver) gives Norris an opportunity to significantly close that gap. Or at least two opportunities to close it a little bit each time. A realistic outcome this weekend going on what we have seen is Norris winning the sprint and Verstappen finishing fourth, which would narrow the lead by three points. 
On Sunday, well that is more uncertain, but Norris winning and Verstappen finishing fourth again would see Norris take out 13 points (or 14 or 12 depending on where the fastest lap point goes), which would reduce the deficit to just 31 in total with three rounds and one sprint to go. These two things happening are far from certain, but if it were to happen then you feel like talking about Norris’s championship hopes feels a little more solid. 
It would be nice for it to go down to the last race for the first time since 2021, though that could still happen with Verstappen carrying a significant advantage. 
The sprint race gets under way at 2pm GMT and we will be here for all of the updates before qualifying for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix starts at 6pm.