SAO PAULO GP – Lando Norris beats Kimi Antonelli by a tenth to take sprint pole
Lando Norris has beaten Kimi Antonelli by just under a tenth to take sprint pole at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix. The Englishman took pole on his final run in SQ3 as he looked to take control when it mattered, despite appearing not to be improving on his final attempt, allowing him to secure pole for a sprint for the first time this season.
Norris started the weekend strongly having taken the championship lead in Mexico City after topping practice in sprint qualifying. He was in the mix throughout, but he did appear to be down in the middle sector before going to the top of the times. The Englishman is looking to build his lead over teammate Oscar Piastri, who was nearly a tenth behind the Italian.
The build-up to this standalone Grand Prix before the final triple header has been focused on if the way Norris overturned the lead of Piastri, coupled with the series of mistakes by the Melbournian, will prove devise in the championship.
Though rain is forecast for the sprint and GP qualifying on Saturday, it could be an important step towards a maiden champion, as he leads by just a point from his teammate. Antonelli hung onto second despite not managing to improve on his second attempt as he was just under nine hundredths ahead of Piastri.
Piastri was nearly seven hundredths ahead of George Russell, the Mercedes driver appeared to struggle to match his teammate as his car appeared to be sliding around on track, which would have cost him time. Norris and Piastri then stayed out for two cooldown laps before launching again on the same set of softs, while Russell, Antonelli followed a similar strategy with one cooldown lap.
Norris said, “It was a little bit tougher than I would have liked. 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. 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. It’s only Friday, so another qualy, another couple of races to go, but it’s a good start.”
Antonelli added, “It was a good session overall. The soft lap was a bit of a shame there in the second to last sector, but still a decent lap, still P2 tomorrow. A lot to fight for. We are going to have take care of the wind, it’s going to rotate quite a lot, so tomorrow we are going to expect quite different conditions”
Piastri added, “The soft just was a bit different to what I expected. A couple of big moments on my first lap, which wasn’t ideal. That was a bit of a shame, but ultimately I’ve felt much happier today than the last couple of weeks. Ultimately, pretty happy. Would have liked a little bit more, but we can definitely fight with what we’ve got, and there’s obviously a lot more points on Sunday.”
Fernando Alonso showed he had pace in the Aston Martin; he was just a thousandth behind Russell and ahead of Max Verstappen by nine hundredths. Verstappen appeared to struggle in dry conditions; however, the forecast, similar to last year’s race, where his stunning wet-weather drive effectively secured his fourth championship, means he cannot be counted out.
Red Bull was hoping that their recent form, which brought Verstappen back into play in the championship since Monza, would continue, but he was three tenths off, which is quite a large gap for a 2.6-mile circuit. He was losing out to Norris in the twisty middle sector between Ferradura (Horse Shoe, Turn Six) and Mergullo (Eleven).
Red Bull has strong straight-line speed but that does not necessarily bode well if the expected rain arrives on Saturday, where more downforce is an advantage. Verstappen said, “A lot of vibrations in the car, a lot of just ride problems, so not what we want. But I think besides that, we just don’t have the grip.”
“The middle sector is terrible, just can’t get the car to turn. But at the same time also, I can’t really rely on the rear. So for us it’s quite poor, I would say. It is what it is.”
Lance Stroll was seventh; he was nearly a tenth behind Verstappen, on a strong afternoon for Aston Martin. Alonso had at one stage topped SQ2, but had to settle for fifth, while his teammate was half a tenth faster than Charles Leclerc. Isack Hadjar was a tenth and a half ahead of Nico Hulkenberg, the 2010 pole sitter, delivering a strong session for Sauber.
Lewis Hamilton was fastest of those knocked out in SQ2, missing out by nine hundredths after he locked up on his first attempt, then had to back out of his final attempt when Leclerc spun, leaving him in the drop zone and out of qualifying. The honorary Brazilian was two thousandths faster than Alex Albon.
Hamilton, meanwhile, is under investigation for a yellow flag infringement, with the flags having been thrown when teammate Leclerc suffered a spin. The seven time champion says that Ferrari believed they would have been a lot faster than they were but they weren’t quick enough.
Asked whether Ferrari are making progress, he added: “It’s hard to say that when you’re out in Q2. We’re working hard, so there’s not much more I can do. It is what it is.”
Pierre Gasly put his Alpine four hundredths behind Albon and ahead of Gabriel Bortoleto by seven hundredths ahead of his first home race at Interlagos. Ollie Bearman was two hundredths further behind, completing those knocked out in SQ2.
Franco Colapinto was the fastest of those knocked out in SQ1, on the day he was announced as staying with Alpine the Argentine missed out by six hundredths on progressing. But he was just under a quarter of a tenth ahead of Liam Lawson, with Yuki Tsunoda about the same behind the sister Racing Bull.
It is believed Lawson and Tsunoda are fighting it out for one of the seats at Racing Bulls with Hadjar likely promoted to partner Verstappen, they both need a strong end to the season. Esteban Ocon was nineteenth going a tenth and a half ahead of Carlo Sainz completing the field.