SÃO PAULO — Lando Norris took pole position for Brazil’s sprint race in what he hopes will be a weekend he takes a stranglehold on the Formula 1 drivers’ championship.
Norris’ lap of 1:09.243 was enough to start Saturday’s sprint at the front of the grid, 0.097 seconds quicker than Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli and 0.185 quicker than McLaren teammate and title rival Oscar Piastri.
Norris snatched the championship lead from Piastri with a dominant win at the Mexican Grand Prix two weeks ago and appears to be the one to beat again this weekend.
There is one point between them in the championship standings. Points are handed out to the top eight finishers as 8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1, so the chance of building a big gap might be minimal should both finish, but with just four races left, every points gain is invaluable.
“It was a little bit tougher than I would have liked,” Norris told Sky Sports. “Close between a lot of cars. Mercedes quick on the soft. But it’s always tricky when you’ve got the medium and the soft and knowing how much to push
“But we did the job we needed to do, which was to be fastest today. Trickier than Mexico. I’ve not been feeling quite as comfortable, but therefore it’s a great result.”
Max Verstappen, considered an outsider in the title fight, labored to sixth position in a disheartening result for anyone hoping to see the Red Bull driver close the 36-point gap to Norris this weekend.
“The car is completely broken, it’s just undriveable,” the four-time world champion complained at one point.
Verstappen will hope the forecast rain hits Saturday — Interlagos is where he turned in one of the great drives of the modern era last year in a topsy-turvy race held in wet conditions.
Mercedes driver George Russell and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso will start in the grid slots between Piastri and Verstappen.
Ferrari endured another deflating session, with Charles Leclerc qualifying eighth behind Alonso’s teammate, Lance Stroll.
Lewis Hamilton did not even make it through the middle qualifying session, qualifying 11th at the circuit he dramatically won the first of his seven drivers’ championships in 2008.
Hamilton escaped a grid penalty for failing to slow for double waved yellows during the session — the stewards later accepted the nearest light panel to Hamilton “was only illuminated for a fraction of a second” before he passed it, meaning he avoided dropping further down the grid.
Racing Bulls’ driver Isack Hadjar, a candidate for the rookie of the season, qualified ninth ahead of Nico Hülkenberg, who delivered on Sauber’s promising pace with a place in the final qualifying session.
Hulkenberg’s teammate, Gabriel Bortoleto, is the home favorite this weekend but failed to join Hülkenberg in SQ2, having to settle for 14th behind Hamilton, Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly. Mexican Grand Prix standout Oliver Bearman qualified 15th for Haas.
Franco Colapinto’s Friday started with confirmation he will continue racing at Alpine in 2026, ending months of speculation about his future — but he was unable to progress through SQ1.
Under-pressure Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda, who had an off in practice several hours earlier, also failed to make it, qualifying in 18th behind Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson.
“We paid a little bit for the track time lost this morning,” Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies told Sky Sports after the session. “You lose a bit of confidence with the lack of running, and then you don’t have a clean session.”
Tsunoda replaced Lawson earlier in the year, but one of them appears set to be the odd man out at Red Bull with the company keen to promote Hadjar to the senior team and Formula 2 junior driver Arvid Lindblad to Racing Bulls next year.
Esteban Ocon and Carlos Sainz will start at the back row of the grid.
