Lando Norris may have taken victory in the Brazilian GP sprint race this weekend, but it looks like not everyone got the memo!

At the press conference after the sprint, an announcer congratulated the second place finisher. Oscar Piastri in a victory that did not actually materialize and that Piastri handled with grace.

Oscar Piastri congratulated on the ‘victory’ in the Brazilian sprint race

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

Pole-sitter Oscar Piastri took the lead of the Brazilian sprint race, holding off his teammate’s strong advance into Turn 1. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc remained third, with Max Verstappen fighting hard for that last position on the podium.

Shortly after the 24-lap race, Norris called McLaren to note that the team had “spoken about this,” perhaps in regards to him running behind his teammate.

Piastri did not make it easy for Norris and, as the laps passed, the pressure increased. Verstappen began an overtake on Leclerc for third place, just before Nico Hulkenberg’s Haas stopped on the side of the road.

With a virtual safety car imminent, Piastri gave up his lead and passed it to his teammate. The race returned to green flag conditions midway through the final lap and Verstappen was unable to compete for second place.

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However, at the FIA ​​post-sprint press conference, it seemed as if some people hadn’t realized that Norris ultimately took the win.

“Congratulations, Oscar, on your victory,” said a presenter before asking both McLaren teammates a question.

The three hosts at the press conference laughed quietly and looked at each other to confirm that they all heard the same thing. In fact, Piastri had just been applauded for the victory!

The young Australian driver handled the situation with ease, saying: “I don’t know what I won, but thanks” before answering the rest of the question, which focused on how the team is managing its goals with only four grands prix remaining. in F1 2024.

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

“The long-term goal is to win as much as we can. So I think that’s pretty clear.

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

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

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

It may not have been a victory for Piastri, but the aftermath of the sprint did bring another victory for McLaren: Max Verstappen received a five-second penalty for breaching VSC restart procedures, dropping him to fourth place and depriving Verstappen of yet Another point in criticism fight for the title.

Read below: Brazilian GP: the McLaren team orders to give Lando Norris the maximum Sprint points