FACTS AND STATS: AlphaTauri grab their first ever Sprint points as Tsunoda bags brilliant sixth

Lando Norris started on pole for the Sao Paulo Sprint, but the McLaren man wasn’t able to convert that into victory. He was pipped off the line by an unstoppable Max Verstappen, in an entertaining 24-lap dash to the line. Here are the best facts and stats from an enthralling Saturday Sprint in Brazil…

• Verstappen’s Sprint victory takes him to 499 points so far in 2023.

• He has won all three Grands Prix this season when he’s won the Sprint.

• Norris finished second, which moves him within seven points of Fernando Alonso in the fight for fifth in the championship.

• This was his best Sprint result, beating the third place he managed in Qatar.

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• Sergio Perez was third, his first top-three in any format since his podium in Monza back in September.

• The Mexican also gained four points on Lewis Hamilton in the fight for second in the championship.

• George Russell was fourth, the third time this season that he has finished P4 in a Sprint without troubling the top three.

• He now has three fourth places and three P8 finishes in Sprints in 2023.

• Charles Leclerc was fifth, his fourth top-five finish in Sprints this year.

• Yuki Tsunoda finishes P6, for AlphaTauri’s first ever points finish in a Sprint. They were the last constructor not to have a Sprint point to their name.

• It was the Japanese racer’s best result in any format this year.

• Tsunoda’s result also lifts AlphaTauri ahead of Alfa Romeo in the constructors’, and means they are only nine points behind Williams in the fight for seventh.

• Lewis Hamilton was seventh. He has only finished in the top four in a Sprint once this year (when he was second in Austin).

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• Carlos Sainz was eighth. He is the third highest points-scorer in Sprints this year.

• Daniel Ricciardo managed his best Sprint result of the year with ninth, only two tenths of a second away from Sainz in P8.

• Oscar Piastri finished in P10, which is where he qualified and where he starts tomorrow.

• Fernando Alonso is the only driver in the top eight in the championship who did not score today.