Lando Norris was scheduled to take pole position for the São Paulo sprint ahead of Kimi Antonelli, with Oscar Piastri lining up in third place just behind his McLaren teammate.
It took Norris until SQ3 to take the lead in qualifying, but he was unbeatable in the battle for the lead, recording two laps fast enough to take pole position on one set of soft tires. On the final lap, he set a benchmark of 1 minute 09.243 seconds, beating Antonelli by a narrow but decisive 0.097 seconds, becoming the fifth sprint pole getter of the season.
“It was a little harder than I expected,” he said. “A lot of the cars were close. Mercedes was soft and fast.
“We did our job and tried to be the fastest today. It was trickier than Mexico. It wasn’t as comfortable, but that’s why it’s a great result. It’s only Friday, so we still have qualifying and a few more races to go, but it’s been a good start.”
Antonelli looked threatening on his second flying lap, but he snapped out of Junsang’s corner before climbing the long hill to the finish line, and was unable to get past the first lap, cementing his front-row start.
Piastri, who is one point behind Norris in the title standings, overshot the first corner on his first flying lap, leaving him nearly 0.4 seconds behind his teammate. On his second try, the difference had narrowed to 0.185 seconds, but he still finished 3rd on the grid.
On that second lap, Piastri was able to get ahead of George Russell, who had been ahead on the first lap, but the Briton was unable to maintain the pace on his second attack and ended up in fourth place, ahead of Fernando Alonso, who was fifth.
Max Verstappen led SQ1 and ended the day with the fastest time in sector one, but never threatened pole. The Dutchman lamented during the session, “The car is completely broken and I can’t drive it at all,” and was seen shaking his head in disappointment as he finished sixth in SQ3.
Lance Stroll tied for seventh, Charles Leclerc’s eighth place represented Ferrari’s pace at Interlagos, with Izak Hajar and Nico Hulkenberg rounding out the top ten.
Lewis Hamilton stumbled in traffic on his last out lap in SQ2 (including two yellow flags for teammate Leclerc who spun), resulting in a poor result that left him tied for 11th, missing the checkered flag and any chance of improving his time.
“Every time, buddy,” he said over the radio, irritated.
Hamilton will also face stewards for a yellow flag violation, but the Briton appears to have tripped over his teammate who spun for a chance to set up a second lap.
Alex Albon qualified 21st, ahead of a disappointing Pierre Gasly. Gasly was well on his way to improving his time, but a yellow flag was brought out as Leclerc was alerted to a spinning Ferrari. Gasly’s mistake may have prevented other players from pushing him into the knockout zone.
Home favorite Gabriel Bortleto was eliminated in 14th place, ahead of Haas’ Oliver Bearman.
Newly re-signed Franco Colapinto will start 16th for Alpine ahead of Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson.
Yuki Tsunoda’s days of suffering continued. The Japanese racer, who was under pressure after missing about half of practice following a crash, was unable to compete for a spot in SQ1 and ended up qualifying 18th, 1.065 seconds off the pace.
Haas driver Esteban Ocon was lined up in 19th place, ahead of last-placed Carlos Sainz, but a lock-up at the first corner meant he missed the first turn and was unable to improve his time on the final flying lap.
result
