NORRIS HAPPY TO ACCEPT GIFT

LANDO NORRIS gained another point on title rival Max Verstappen in the stewards' room after yesterday's Sprint.

- Daniel Moxon

The Brit was gifted victory in the short-form race by Oscar Piastri, who was ordered to move aside for his title-chasing team-mate.

Norris thought he had narrowed the gap to Verstappen, who finished third on the road, by two points.

But he gained another one when the stewards decided to penalise the Dutchman for going 0.63 seconds too fast during a Virtual Safety Car period late in the Sprint.

Norris faces a busy day today with qualifying for the main race postponed until this morning, after heavy rain and thunderstorms battered the Sao Paulo track.

F1 chief executive Stefano Domanicali said: "The conditions are not safe to drive - it is as simple as that." In the drier conditions earlier, it took Verstappen a while to dispatch Charles Leclerc in the 24-lap dash but once he had done so, he felt he had the pace to overtake at least one of the McLarens.