Lando Norris has taken pole for the Sao Paulo sprint. Two impressive runs in SQ3 proved too much for any of his rivals as Norris seized pole by just under a tenth from a resurgent Kimi Antonelli, who could have taken top honours were it not for a snap of oversteer coming out of the final corner. Regardless, this marks Antonelli’s best sprint qualifying performance since his pole in Miami.
In close attendance throughout, Oscar Piastri was unable to contend with his teammate over a full lap. His final run in Q3 looked to have secured a front row start, however Antonelli usurped the Australian at the last time of asking. Having lost the championship lead last time out in Mexico, Piastri once again finds himself on the back foot.
George Russell was in the fight for pole but eventually had to settle for fifth, just one thousandth of a second ahead of the most prominent midfielder: Fernando Alonso. Quick from the outset (going so far as to set the fastest time in SQ2) Alonso missed out on the front row by the narrowest of margins but will take solace in having equalled his bets qualifying performance of the season.
Max Verstappen had a session to forget. Having described his car as ‘undriveable’ in SQ2, a poor middle sector in SQ3, left Verstappen stranded in sixth place. The reigning world champion attributed his poor lap to excessive vibrations and a lack of grip in the twisty middle sector. Red Bull have opted for a low downforce setup in Sao Paulo which appears to have compromised them in the corners. When asked about the possibility of Verstappen reaching the podium in the sprint, Helmut Marko simply said “it must rain, otherwise no chance”.
Lance Stroll underlined Aston Martin’s strong pace with a commendable run to seventh, while Charles Leclerc considered his eighth place to be representative of Ferrari’s pace. Despite a couple of lockups early in the session, Isack Hadjar was able to secure ninth ahead of Nico Hulkenberg.
Lewis Hamilton endured yet another frustrating session. After failing to secure a place in the top ten after his initial run in SQ2, a late session spin for Leclerc brought out a double waved yellow flag and prevented Hamilton from getting to the line fast enough to set a final flying lap. As a result, Hamilton qualified 11th but is currently under investigation for failing to slow sufficiently for the double waved yellows and could face a grid penalty for the sprint race.
Alex Albon qualified 12th ahead of Pierre Gasly, Gabriel Bortoleto and Ollie Bearman. Franco Colapinto came within two tenths of SQ2 but had to settle for 16th ahead of Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda who couldn’t get to grips with the RB21’s tricky low downforce setup. Esteban Ocon was once again unable to match his teammate’s one lap pace and will line up 19th ahead of Carlos Sainz who struggled throughout and was the only driver not to break the 1m11s barrier.
So far McLaren have been the team to beat with Norris the inform driver, but with rain a possibility on both Saturday and Sunday, Interlagos may spring a surprise or two.
