Lando Norris stretched his Formula One championship lead to nine points after winning Saturday's Sao Paulo sprint while McLaren teammate and title rival Oscar Piastri crashed in a big blow to the Australian's bid to get back on top.
The pair had started the day, in tricky conditions and a drying track at Interlagos, separated by a single point with Norris on pole position and Piastri third on the grid.
The 24-year-old Piastri's hopes disappeared on lap six of 24, another huge moment in a championship of fine margins, when he lost control on the wet kerb at turn three.
The McLaren spun into the barriers, closely followed off by Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Alpine's Franco Colapinto.
The race was then halted on lap eight after the safety car was deployed, resuming with a rolling start after barrier repairs and Norris leading the field to the flag with Mercedes's Kimi Antonelli and George Russell in his slipstream.
BORTOLETO CRASHES ON LAST LAP
Antonelli threatened to get past Norris, closing the gap to less than a second on medium tyres to the Briton's softs, but had to settle for second when Sauber's home hero Gabriel Bortoleto crashed heavily at the start of the final lap, triggering double yellow warning flags.
The Brazilian, whose car went airborne and careered into the walls on both sides of the track in a scary crash, reported over the radio that he was unhurt.
He was taken to the medical centre and released, then he ran down the pitlane to the Sauber garage.
Antonelli took the chequered flag 0.845 behind Norris, with Russell third and Mercedes regaining second place overall from Ferrari.
"It was tough. It makes the win more rewarding when you have a race like this," said Norris.
"Not an easy race but it's always a difficult one in Brazil. Mercedes were quick. I expected us to be a bit better but we weren't. I don't know how much of that is down to tyres or did Mercedes do a good job?"
Red Bull's reigning world champion Max Verstappen finished fourth and is now 39 points behind Norris in third place overall and with four grands prix and a sprint remaining.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was fifth, after overtaking Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, with teammate Lewis Hamilton seventh and the final point going to Alpine's Pierre Gasly.
Qualifying for Sunday's main grand prix was due to follow on Saturday afternoon, with Sauber in a race against time to repair Bortoleto's car.
"I will try to put this behind," said Piastri, who lost the overall lead to Norris in Mexico last month. "There's a lot more points on offer tomorrow. So the better job I can do in qualifying to get a good starting point, the better it will be."
Team boss Andrea Stella admitted to mixed feelings, saying: "It's just an episode. Oscar has been fast this weekend. We look forward to regrouping, repairing the car. The big points are tomorrow."
The pair had started the day, in tricky conditions and a drying track at Interlagos, separated by a single point with Norris on pole position and Piastri third on the grid.
The 24-year-old Piastri's hopes disappeared on lap six of 24, another huge moment in a championship of fine margins, when he lost control on the wet kerb at turn three.
The McLaren spun into the barriers, closely followed off by Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Alpine's Franco Colapinto.
The race was then halted on lap eight after the safety car was deployed, resuming with a rolling start after barrier repairs and Norris leading the field to the flag with Mercedes's Kimi Antonelli and George Russell in his slipstream.
BORTOLETO CRASHES ON LAST LAP
Antonelli threatened to get past Norris, closing the gap to less than a second on medium tyres to the Briton's softs, but had to settle for second when Sauber's home hero Gabriel Bortoleto crashed heavily at the start of the final lap, triggering double yellow warning flags.
The Brazilian, whose car went airborne and careered into the walls on both sides of the track in a scary crash, reported over the radio that he was unhurt.
He was taken to the medical centre and released, then he ran down the pitlane to the Sauber garage.
Antonelli took the chequered flag 0.845 behind Norris, with Russell third and Mercedes regaining second place overall from Ferrari.
"It was tough. It makes the win more rewarding when you have a race like this," said Norris.
"Not an easy race but it's always a difficult one in Brazil. Mercedes were quick. I expected us to be a bit better but we weren't. I don't know how much of that is down to tyres or did Mercedes do a good job?"
Red Bull's reigning world champion Max Verstappen finished fourth and is now 39 points behind Norris in third place overall and with four grands prix and a sprint remaining.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was fifth, after overtaking Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, with teammate Lewis Hamilton seventh and the final point going to Alpine's Pierre Gasly.
Qualifying for Sunday's main grand prix was due to follow on Saturday afternoon, with Sauber in a race against time to repair Bortoleto's car.
"I will try to put this behind," said Piastri, who lost the overall lead to Norris in Mexico last month. "There's a lot more points on offer tomorrow. So the better job I can do in qualifying to get a good starting point, the better it will be."
Team boss Andrea Stella admitted to mixed feelings, saying: "It's just an episode. Oscar has been fast this weekend. We look forward to regrouping, repairing the car. The big points are tomorrow."
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