Oscar Piastri ‘sent a message’ to Lando Norris at Sao Paulo GP after what Karun Chandhok saw

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Karun Chandhok saw Oscar Piastri ‘send a message’ to Lando Norris in the F1 Sprint at the 2024 Sao Paulo Grand Prix after watching the McLaren teammates battle in Brazil.

The Woking outfit enjoyed the perfect result in Sprint Qualifying on Friday when Piastri beat Norris to pole position at the death. Max Verstappen also failing to beat Ferrari rival Charles Leclerc for third place on the Sprint grid gifted Norris a great chance to gain in the standings.

Norris knows he needs a lot of luck for the McLaren driver to dethrone Verstappen and win the drivers’ championship this season. The 24-year-old headed into the Sao Paulo GP trying to eat into a 47-point gap and needing to outscore the Red Bull ace by 11.75 points a round.

Oscar Piastri ‘sent a message’ to Lando Norris by refusing to yield in the Sao Paulo GP Sprint

Sprint Qualifying looked likely to be Norris’ to lose through SQ1 and SQ2 before a mistake on his final attempt in SQ3 opened the door for Piastri to pip his McLaren partner by only 0.029 seconds. Piastri then showed he would be no pushover as he covered Norris from the start.

Both McLaren pilots got away cleanly to start the Sprint at the Sao Paulo GP on the slopped grid but Piastri covered the inside line so Norris could not steal the lead into Turn 1. The 23-year-old even started to build a gap on the Briton during the early parts of the 24-lap event.

READ MORE: Five unforgettable Sao Paulo GP from Senna’s painful win to Hamilton’s title

Piastri also moving out of DRS range to Norris even proved to Chandhok that the Melbourne native wanted to send a message to everyone and anyone watching the F1 Sprint at the Sao Paulo GP. While Piastri is happy to be a wingman for the 2024 title fight, he is no No2 driver.

“Piastri’s sending a message out,” Chandhok told Sky Sports F1 (02/11, 12:12). “He’s saying, ‘Look, I’m quick enough to win this race. Ok, I’ll give it up. But I might do it on the last corner of the last lap to send a message out that I could and should have won the race’.

“Honestly, I get it. As a racing driver, you don’t want to give up a win. I know it’s not a Grand Prix but he still doesn’t want to give up a win.”

A late VSC nearly removed McLaren’s chance to ask Oscar Piastri to let Lando Norris win

Chandhok outlined the message Piastri was sending Norris and also McLaren in the F1 Sprint at the Sao Paulo GP on Lap 8 of 24. At that time, the Australian had broken out of DRS range to the Briton, who also had Leclerc plus Verstappen tagged onto his tail trying to get second.

McLaren were happy to let Piastri prove his point and lead Norris through until Lap 22 when Nico Hulkenberg retiring forced the team to ask the Australian to swap positions. Piastri duly obliged at Turn 4 with McLaren fearful of a Virtual Safety Car to remove Hulkenberg’s VF-24.

READ MORE: The most successful F1 drivers at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix and ever in Brazil

Their intervention proved crucial as race control issued the VSC toward the end of the lap as Verstappen also lined up a move on Piastri out of Juncao. Had McLaren not acted when they did, the team’s patient approach might have cost Norris the chance to win his first F1 Sprint.

In the end, McLaren’s intervention nearly cost Piastri P2 in the F1 Sprint at the Sao Paulo GP to Verstappen. The Red Bull racer lined up a move on the pole-sitter into Descida do Lago as the VSC ended. But Verstappen had to back out to avoid likely overtaking under yellow flags.