The Friday in F1 Brazil GP saw McLaren show their hand once again as Max Verstappen struggled along with Ferrari, but Aston Martin had a solid run.
It was McLaren show on Friday in F1 Brazil GP at Interlagos to start the sprint weekend, with Lando Norris securing sprint pole, while teammate Oscar Piastri was third. The two looked solid all day. The only slip happened for the Australian on the soft tyre run.
The two are optimistic of a good run unlike Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who was only sixth. The Dutchman highlighted struggle in the middle sector for losing time and doesn’t think it can be sorted for the F1 sprint race. Teammate Yuki Tsunoda had another fall in SQ1 itself.
He felt okay on the lap but the lack of grip didn’t bring him enough time. He didn’t think he lost whole lot in FP1 incident as Red Bull were able to fix the damage quickly. The pair of Mercedes F1 drivers had a good run in second and fourth, with Andrea Kimi Antonelli beating George Russell.
The Italian had issues in SQ1, but felt sublime in SQ2 and SQ3 to end up on the front row. Even though Russell missed out on Top 3, he felt good about the potential to come unlike Ferrari F1 pair, where Lewis Hamilton was knocked out in SQ2 after spin from teammate Charles Leclerc.
The Brit was reprimanded for not slowing even though the stewards agreed that it was too quick. But overall, both the Ferrari F1 drivers felt they did as much they could. It was just that the car didn’t give enough, especially in sprint qualifying.
Norris: “It was a little bit tougher than I would have liked. It was close between a lot of cars – Mercedes were quick on the soft [tyre]. It’s always tricky when you’ve got the medium and the soft and knowing how much more to push, or not push sometimes. We did the job we needed to do, which was to be fastest today. It was trickier than Mexico. I’ve not been feeling quite as comfortable, but therefore it’s a great result. Qualifying is one of the best things here. You can also race and have great racing, but Qualifying around here is difficult – it’s bumpy, it’s tricky. You’ve got the hills, the undulations, so it’s always a joy. It always puts a smile on your face, especially when you end up on pole. A good day today, but it’s a long weekend. It’s only Friday, so another Qualifying, another couple of races to go. A good start. No. We’ll wait and see what tomorrow’s going to do. It’s meant to rain a lot in the morning and it’s meant to still be incredibly windy, so make sure everyone brings their rain jackets. There’s no point worrying about anything for now. I’m happy with today – it was difficult, it was a good job I put things together. Now, focus will switch to tomorrow.”
Piastri: “The soft was just a bit different to what I expected. I had a couple of big moments on my first lap which wasn’t ideal. That was a bit of a shame, but ultimately I felt much happier today than the last couple of weeks. Practice went very well and for Sprint Qualifying I think we changed a few things which took a little bit of getting used to again. Ultimately, I’m pretty happy. I would have liked a little bit more but we can definitely fight with what we’ve got and there are obviously a lot more points on Sunday. It’s going to be an interesting day. We’ll see what weather we get. I’ll try and take whatever opportunities there are. I think the pace in the car has been really good today so hopefully that translates to whatever we get.”
Antonelli: “It was a good session overall. I think SQ1 was a bit scrappy, a bit difficult with traffic but then we got into our rhythm. The soft [tyre] lap was a bit of a shame during the second to last sector, but still a decent lap. P2 for tomorrow, so a lot to fight for. We’re going to have to take care of the wing – it’s going to rotate quite a lot, so tomorrow we can expect quite different conditions compared to today. Also the weather is going to be a bit uncertain, but we’ll try to be ready for anything and hopefully we can do a good race.”
Verstappen: “No. A lot of vibration in the car, a lot of just ride problems. Not what we want. Besides that we just don’t have the grip. The middle sector is terrible, so I just can’t get the car to turn. At the same time, I can’t really rely on the rears. Of course, just quite poor, I would say, but it is what it is. I don’t know. We’ll find out, right? I think it’s quite clear that we are lacking something, and I’m not expecting that suddenly to be miles better in the wet. We’ll see tomorrow.”
Leclerc: “The car was very slow today. It didn’t feel that bad but we are slow, so we’ve got something to work on and try and improve for tomorrow. Unfortunately my lap in SQ3, the first one was pretty good – I had a rejected upshift in the last straight, so it cost like a tenth and a half. It wouldn’t have been much better, I think maybe P7, but a tough weekend so far. Nothing makes me think we are out of place in terms of set-up, so I’ll try something – whether it’s going to be better or worse, I’m not sure.”
Hamilton: “Yeah, that definitely didn’t help but… ay ay ay! It’s not for the lack of trying. The team thought we were a lot faster than we are. I gave it everything and that’s ultimately what matters most. We just weren’t quick enough. It’s hard to say that when you’re out in SQ2, but I do feel like… We’re working hard, so there’s not really much more I can do. It is what it is. I’m 11th now, so I just have to have some fun from there. I think at this point it’s literally just about having fun. It’s not going well from my side, my year, and I just have to enjoy it wherever I am. That’s all I can do.”
It was bonanza for Aston Martin F1 pair after Fernando Alonso ended up fifth and Lance Stroll was seventh to set-up a good starting position for the team, unexpectedly. Visa Cash App RB’s Isack Hadjar felt good to be in SQ3 as well, along with Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg in a clean run.
But Liam Lawson wasn’t too pleased with traffic to be knocked out in SQ1, while Gabriel Bortoleto made minor mistake to be any higher than 14th in the end. The traffic scene also caught out Haas’ Esteban Ocon to be knocked in SQ1, while Oliver Bearman made it in but couldn’t fare well in SQ2.
It was looking good for Alpine’s Pierre Gasly until the late yellow flag in SQ2 which disrupted his run, as Franco Colapinto just missed out in SQ1. Williams’ Alexander Albon was satisfied to make it in SQ2 on a tough track, but Carlos Sainz was not too happy with execution to be last on the grid.
Alonso: “The car felt good in FP1 – we were P4 and now we are P5, so it definitely seems like we started the weekend in the window of the operation of the car. With only one Free Practice, obviously if you start on the right foot then everything becomes easier. “I think today is a good boost for everyone. We are not giving up, and let’s keep trying every day. If it was dry, then it would probably be easier to hold the positions, but we expect a wet Saturday so anything can happen tomorrow.”
Hadjar: “We had quite a good Sprint Qualifying and everything went well before SQ3, where we committed to only one final lap on the Soft tyre. It was a bit of a learning lap as it was the first time we tried this tyre here. Normally, you just expect more grip on a softer compound but it seemed like it was hard to finish a lap on it, so overall I felt more comfortable on the Mediums. Tomorrow in the Sprint we start just one place away from points, so we’ll try our best to gain a few places.”
Hulkenberg: “Overall, it was a clean session. Shootouts can always be tense, and this place isn’t the easiest to navigate in terms of traffic, but I think we got the most out of it today. We’ve been working hard behind the scenes to unlock more performance, and hopefully that carries through into tomorrow. Points are the goal, as always. The midfield is incredibly tight this season, so every opportunity really counts.”
Gasly: “On one side, I am very happy, on the other I am very frustrated with the end result in Sprint Qualifying. Today’s pace and overall performance was good and the car was feeling a lot better than it has for quite a long time. That is positive and gives us some things to look at and try to understand. We definitely had the pace for the top ten today. In SQ1 we were fast, then SQ2 we were improving before a yellow flag for the Ferrari ruined our last push lap. It’s a bit frustrating as it’s the first time for a few months that I have had a good feeling in the car and the potential to put it in the top ten. We will focus on tomorrow and take the positives. We have the speed for Qualifying, in the dry, and probably in the wet, if it rains. I feel we can be in the mix so we will give it another go and really push for a better result.”
Ocon: “I had the wrong track position for a lot of it. My first run wasn’t very clean, and there was traffic in places, but on my second run, I’ve never overtaken so many cars before – it must’ve been like 10 or 12. There is a lot more pace in the car, so it’s been a disappointing session, and we need to review. The weekend is far from over, though, so we’ll bounce back tomorrow.”
Sainz: “We simply didn’t do a good Sprint qualifying today. My first run was messy with traffic and getting the tyres up to temperature but the second run we made our life more difficult and almost didn’t get two laps in. Ultimately, I finish this session not knowing the limit or performance of the car, so it’s not ideal. Looking at FP1, I know there was more in it, so we’ll learn from today and hopefully execute a better session tomorrow.”
Here’s reprimand for Lewis Hamilton: https://www.fia.com/system/files/decision-document/2025_sao_paulo_grand_prix_-_infringement_-_car_44_-_failing_to_slow_for_double_yellow_flags.pdf
Here’s how F1 Brazil GP sprint qualifying panned out