Lando Norris clinched pole position for today’s sprint race in Brazil, edging out triple world champion Max Verstappen. The 23-year-old British driver secured the top spot by a mere 0.061 seconds at Interlagos, with Sergio Perez taking third.
Mercedes’ George Russell and Lewis Hamilton will start from the fourth and fifth positions, respectively, in today’s sprint race.
While Norris believed he had the pace to claim the pole for the main event on Sunday, a strategic error from McLaren during Friday’s rain-affected qualifying sessions thwarted that possibility. However, Norris redeemed himself by setting the fastest time for today’s 24-lap sprint to the checkered flag.
Expressing his surprise at his pole position, Norris, aiming for his first Formula One victory, mentioned, “It felt like one of the worst laps I have done, so I am a little bit surprised to be on pole. But I feel like we have made up for yesterday. I have no idea how the sprint will go, but the pace has been good this weekend, and the car has been quick.”
Perez trailed Norris by a tenth, followed by Russell, who finished 0.235 seconds behind, and Hamilton, 0.318 seconds adrift.
In other rankings, Yuki Tsunoda secured the sixth position, ahead of Charles Leclerc and Daniel Ricciardo. The qualifying session concluded prematurely after Esteban Ocon collided with Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin, causing Ocon to crash out.
Despite Alonso’s off-track positioning, which offered space for Ocon, contact between the two drivers led to significant damage to Ocon’s car and front suspension damage for Alonso.
Alonso’s Aston Martin couldn’t be repaired in time for Q2, and a 28-minute delay ensued to fix the barrier. Alonso will start 15th in the main event, while his teammate Lance Stroll, who qualified an impressive third for Sunday’s Grand Prix, will be three places from the back for today’s sprint scheduled to begin at 3:30 pm local time (6:30 pm GMT).
Here’s the Sprint Shootout classification for the Brazilian GP:
Lando Norris McLaren 1:10.622
Max Verstappen Red Bull +0.061
Sergio Perez Red Bull +0.134
George Russell Mercedes +0.235
Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +0.318
Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri +0.397
Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.455
Daniel Ricciardo AlphaTauri +0.500
Carlos Sainz Ferrari +0.504
Oscar Piastri McLaren +0.567
Source: AFP
