In the first Sprint Qualifying session, Norris was the strongest but the others were snapping at his heels. Perez let his team down again by finishing SQ in 16th, ahead of Tsunoda, Ocon, Zhou and Colapinto, a nice mix of the teams at the slower end of the field.
In the second session, the McLarens continued to look strong but Piastri was all over the shop with Norris quickest again. Out went Alonso, Albon, Bottas, Stroll and Magnussen.
The third session held no surprises for who took pole: Norris. Russell managed to outpace Piastri for second place. Sainz and LeClerc were 4th and 5th, then Verstappen, Hamilton, Gasly, Lawson and Hulkenberg. It was so comfortable for Norris that he was out of the car whilst others were still coming round the track.
Overnight Perez and Colapinto decided to start from the pit lane with everyone else lining up on the grid as expected. Piastri was able to overtake Russell off the line and Hamilton also got a good start and made up a place, with Verstappen losing three places. Perez was running last.
During the race LeClerc made an excellent overtake on Hamilton and Russell had a couple of unsuccessful attempts on Piastri but other than that there was nothing of any note in the Sprint until the last milliseconds. As the two McLarens approached the finish line, there was an incredibly tight switch were Norris gave Piastri the win as he had done for him in Brazil.
Behind the top three were Sainz, LeClerc, Hamilton, Hulkenberg and Versappen. It was good points for Haas but not what Red Bull needed. Horner commented after the race that Perez hadn't actually got going quick enough when the lights went out at the end of the pit lane, just ambled out.
Norris spoke that the team didn't want him to risk handing the win to Piastri but he managed it. It was telling how little the Sprints mean to the drivers that he said he wasn't bothered about it.
For those wondering who the hell James Hinchcliffe is, as he keeps popping up, he was a Canadian Indycar driver.
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