LANDO NORRIS has won the vital Sao Paulo Grand Prix sprint race after a helping hand from Oscar Piastri.
His team-mate allowed him through just two laps before the end of the race on team orders.
Norris, 24, had his win made more tense than needed as McLaren delayed the order until it was almost too late.
Communication was made with Piastri after Red Bull Racing‘s Max Verstappen was on their tail.
The Belgian racer had passed Ferrari‘s Charles Leclerc with just six laps to go.
The extra points for Norris means that Verstappen’s lead as been cut to 45 points.
This was part of McLaren’s plan as they went into the sprint aiming for a Norris win to slash the rival’s lead.
However, there was almost a spanner thrown into the works as Nico Hulkenburg’s Haas pulled up on Lap 21.
Luckily, the position swap between Norris and Piastri was made before a safety car was deployed.
If it had not, then it would have allowed the Red Bull to close the gap, and Piastir would have likely won the sprint.
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After the race, Norris was quick to show his appreciation to his team-mate’s efforts.
He said: “Not proud about it, but we worked well as a team together. I thank Oscar.
“Today was the result we wanted, Oscar deserved it but I thank him and the team.
“It was yo-yoing a little bit. The dirty air costs you a lot of lap time.
“I felt a bit quicker but I couldn’t get close enough to pass.
“I felt we were quicker than the guys behind but it’s difficult in the sprint to know how much to manage [the tyres].”
Verstappen finished the sprint in third place but was handed a five-second penalty for going too fast under the VSC.
This dropped the Red Bull Racing star to fourth.
A statement from the stewards said: “[Verstappen] was 0.63 seconds below the minimum time at VSC End when the FIA light panels changed to green.
“This indicates a sporting advantage gained under VSC.”
