Lando Norris will line up in pole position for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, the Briton setting the pace in a fascinating Qualifying session that saw Max Verstappen make a shock Q1 exit.
While Oscar Piastri had bounced back from his earlier crash out of the Sprint to provisionally go quickest during the first runs of Q3, it was the other McLaren of Norris that went fastest of all in the final laps, pumping in a time of 1m 09.511s.
As was the case in Friday’s Sprint Qualifying, Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli was the closest challenger in P2, the Italian’s effort 0.174s adrift of Norris’ time, while Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc put together a good session to take P3.
Piastri had to settle for fourth, while it was a positive day for Racing Bulls as Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson claimed fifth and seventh respectively. George Russell was sandwiched between them for Mercedes in sixth, with Haas’ Ollie Bearman, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Kick Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg completing the top 10.
One day on from exiting SQ2 in Sprint Qualifying, Lewis Hamilton again failed to reach the final segment of Qualifying this time around, the Ferrari driver having been unable to improve on P13.
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and the Williams of Alex Albon classified just ahead of the seven-time World Champion in 11th and 12th, with their respective team mates, Lance Stroll and Carlos Sainz, following in 14th and 15th places.
The big news from Q1 was the exit of Verstappen, the Red Bull driver ending the session in P16 after struggling for grip, while team mate Yuki Tsunoda also made an early departure in P19.
Haas’ Esteban Ocon and the Alpine of Franco Colapinto slotted between the two in 17th and 18th respectively, while Kick Sauber could not get Gabriel Bortoleto’s car out on track following his earlier crash in the Sprint, leaving him in 20th place.
More to follow
