Oscar Piastri had the final laugh with F1 Brazil GP sprint pole from Lando Norris, with Charles Leclerc rounding the Top 3.
SQ1:
The first part in cloudy F1 Brazil GP sprint qualifying saw an early run for Ferrari pair on the mandatory medium tyre. They continued on for a triple-run on the same compound after a cool down lap, when others pitted to relax and complete their run later.
They made it in SQ2 after a different strategy, as a late fast lap saw McLaren’s Lando Norris set the pace with a time of 1m09.477s. He led his teammate Oscar Piastri, who set his time early in the session, as Williams’ Alexander Albon was third.
The drop zone saw a big name of Fernando Alonso get knocked out in his Aston Martin in 16th with a 1m10.978s lap, with teammate Lance Stroll (1m11.280s) only 19th. Alpine’s Esteban Ocon was 17th with a time of 1m11.052s lap.
His teammate made it in, likewise Visa Cash App RB’s Yuki Tsunoda’s (1m11.121s) and Kick Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu’s (1m12.978s), where they were only 18th and 20th.
SQ2:
It remained cloudy in the second part of F1 Brazil GP sprint qualifying where the Haas pair and Visa Cash App RB’s Liam Lawson opted for a strategy to do just the one run. Ferrari this time didn’t use its SQ1 strategy, but pitted after undertaking their first run.
It was Norris again on top with a 1m09.063s lap in another McLaren 1-2, with Piastri slotting in second ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who undertook a second run to jump to third, whereas teammate did not complete his second run.
The big drop came for Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton (1m09.941s) in 11th, with Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg (1m09.964s) in 12th from Red Bull’s Sergio Perez (1m10.024s), Williams’ Franco Colapinto (1m10.275s) and Kick Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas (1m10.595s).
SQ3:
It was cloudy but the rain stayed away in the final part of F1 Brazil GP sprint qualifying where McLaren pair went for an early banker along with Williams’ Alexander Albon. The Brit had the top spot with a 1m08.928s lap as he did in SQ1 and SQ2.
McLaren went for a second run especially Piastri, who finally got the lap in to take the F1 Brazil GP sprint pole with a 1m08.899s lap and defy his teammate Norris, who did not do a second run. Leclerc was third with a 1m09.153s lap in his one attempt.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen could only manage fourth with a 1m09.219s lap, as Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz (1m09.257s) was fifth, Mercedes’ George Russell (1m09.443s) sixth and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly (1m09.622s) ending up best of the rest in seventh.
Lawson (1m09.941s) was eighth from Albon (1m10.078s), as Haas’ Oliver Bearman had his lap time deleted after track limits at Turn 2. The Brit will start the sprint race as well as he substitutes for a sick Kevin Magnussen.
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