F1 qualifying results: Lando Norris storms to pole for the São Paulo Grand Prix

Lando Norris took home the victory in the F1 Sprint race Saturday morning at Interlagos.

But the big points in São Paulo are handed out tomorrow.

Norris’ win in the F1 Sprint race at the São Paulo Grand Prix — coming as teammate and Drivers’ Championship rival Oscar Piastri crashed in the early going — extended his lead over Piastri to nine points. Norris now leads the way with 365 points, followed by Piastri in second with 356. Max Verstappen finished fourth in the F1 Sprint race to pick up five points, increasing his season tally to 326.

Norris has a bit of momentum as qualifying looms, coming off a win in both the Mexico City Grand Prix as well as the F1 Sprint race at Interlagos.

Now we will see if Piastri can respond.

The Australian driver, who led the Drivers’ Championship for 15 races until Norris regained the lead after the Mexico City Grand Prix, has endured a difficult stretch over the past month. After winning the Dutch Grand Prix, Piastri finished third at Monza. From there, he crashed out of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, crashed out of the F1 Sprint race in Austin, and as noted above, crashed out in São Paulo earlier today.

He left Zandvoort with a 34-point lead over Norris, and a 104-point lead over Verstappen. Since then, Verstappen has closed to within 30 points of him, and Norris has taken the Drivers’ Championship lead.

But the team to watch just might be Mercedes. Kimi Antonelli finished second, and George Russell finished third, in the F1 Sprint race earlier today. The Silver Arrows are locked in a three-way fight for second in the Constructors’ Championship, and might be on the front foot this weekend in Brazil.

Follow along as the grid is set for the São Paulo Grand Prix.

São Paulo Grand Prix provisional grid

Here is the provisional starting order for the São Paulo Grand Prix, which will be filled in throughout the session.

São Paulo Grand Prix qualifying

Follow along here as qualifying for the São Paulo Grand Prix unfolds.

Q1

The start of qualifying was delayed by five minutes as race officials made repairs to the barriers following a crash in a support race, which was welcome news down at the Sauber garage. After Nico Hülkenberg’s crash early in the F1 Sprint race and Gabriel Bortoleto’s hard shunt in the closing laps, the team was furiously repairing Hülkenberg’s car while building a new one using the backup chassis for Bortoleto.

When the session began, it was the Williams pair of Carlos Sainz Jr. and Alexander Albon on the track first, followed by none other than Hülkenberg. Sauber had managed to get his C45 ready for the start of Q1, while they continued to work on Bortoleto’s challenger.

Those were just installation laps for the Williams duo, as both Sainz and Albon returned to the pits rather than attempt a push lap.

Hülkenberg then returned to pit lane himself, with Sauber likely wanting to confirm that the repairs were in working order.

Lap times started to come in, with Liam Lawson leading the way early. Piastri’s first lap came on a set of used soft tires, and a lockup at Turn 1 hampered the entire lap; his initial effort was only good for P7. As additional times came in, Piastri’s time tumbled down the order, and he was soon shuffled down to P12.

Norris, however, delivered a strong opening gambit as he went purple through all three sectors and jumped to the top of the table with a 1:10.404 effort.

Verstappen’s first effort was only good enough for P4, as he was behind Norris, Lawson, and Oliver Bearman.

He was then dropped to fifth, as Lewis Hamilton rocketed to the top of the timing sheets with a 1:10.233.

Down at Sauber, the mechanics continued to work on Bortoleto’s C45, but time was running out.

As the clock struck ten minutes remaining, Bortloleto remained in the garage, and in the drop zone. Down in the bottom five with him? Pierre Gasly, Yuki Tsunoda, Franco Colapinto, and none other than Piastri, whose opening lap was eventually dropped down to P18.

But there was time to be found on the circuit, evidenced by a lap from Bearman that came in at 1:09.891, putting the Haas rookie into P1 for the moment. That was probably a welcome sight for Piastri, whose second attempt clocked in at 1:09.928, sliding him into P2 behind Bearman.

That lap was one of several that dropped Verstappen into the elimination zone, as the four-time Drivers’ Champion was sitting in P16 with six minutes remaining in Q1. Verstappen found some clear air on his next push lap as he had Interlagos largely to himself, and his second lap of Q1 clocked in at 1:10.727.

Which kept him in P16, in the elimination zone along with Colapinto, Esteban Ocon, Tsunoda, and Bortoleto.

“Oh my god mate, the car and the ride is a tiny bit better but now sliding in Turn 1,” reported Verstappen over the radio as he crawled back around the circuit.

As the final push laps were posted, Norris went back to P1, going purple once more through all three sectors with a 1:09.656. Lance Stroll jumped into P5 with a solid lap, and a strong effort from Isack Hadjar put him into P7.

Hadjar was dropped down to P7 when Charles Leclerc cut the beam with a lap good enough for P4.

Then Verstappen finished his final push lap, and as Alex Jacques noted, the “day of shocks continues,” as his lap was only good enough for P16.

Verstappen had been eliminated, along with Ocon, Colapinto, Tsunoda, and Bortoleto, as the Sauber crew could not make the repairs in time.

If it is any solace for Verstappen, he won in the rain from P17 at Interlagos a year ago.

At the front end, a stunning lap from Gasly saw him finish Q1 in P2. Norris led the way, followed by Gasly, Bearman, Piastri, Leclerc, Russell, Hamilton, Stroll, Hadjar, and Lawson to round out the top ten.

Q2

Q2 began with 15 minutes on the clock, and Verstappen on his way to the media pen to put his tough Q1 into context. Once again, it was the Williams pair of Albon and Sainz on the track first, as the rest of the grid remained on pit lane.

As times started to come in, Bearman’s strong session continued. He went back into P1 — ahead of Piastri, Hamilton, Leclerc, and more — with a 1:09.755. Most notable was the fact that Bearman was fastest in the third sector, a promising sign for the tires on the VF-25.

Norris’ first effort was only good for P3, putting him behind both Bearman and Piastri. He was then dropped to fourth when Antonelli’s lap came in second, putting a pair of rookies atop the timing sheets at Interlagos with five minutes remaining.

It is worth noting, however, that Norris’ lap came on a set of used soft tires.

As final efforts began, the pressure was on Leclerc, who was in the elimination zone along with Gasly, Stroll, Hülkenberg, and Sainz. Leclerc’s first sector was a slight improvement, and his second sector was as well. The Ferrari driver cut the beam with a lap good for third for the moment.

Gasly’s final effort came in at P5, which put Alonso, Albon, Hamilton, Stroll, and Sainz down into the drop zone with a minute remaining. Norris was on the circuit, going purple through both Sector 1 and Sector 2. He crossed the line with a 1:09.616, putting him into P1 once more and putting the pressure on Hamilton, who was still in the elimination zone.

Hamilton could not find the time he needed, and the Ferrari driver was eliminated, along with Alonso, Albon, Stroll, and Sainz.

Norris led the way among the ten drivers who advanced, followed by Bearman. Antonelli advanced in P3, followed by Leclerc, Piastri, Gasly, Russell, Lawson, Hadjar, and Hülkenberg. Kudos to the team at Sauber at getting that challenger ready for Hülkenberg for the start of the session.

Q3

The green light illuminated at the end of pit lane, and 12 minutes were put on the clock, but it was a quiet start to Q3 as all ten drivers remained in the garage for the moment. Eventually two of the more surprising drivers remaining rumbled onto the track, with Bearman ahead of Hülkenberg.

Bearman’s first lap came in at 1:09.977. That set the benchmark, but Jolyon Palmer noted that he “left himself work to do.”

Someone else who left himself some work to do? Norris. While he was purple through both Sector 2 and Sector 3, a slip in the first sector left him off the pace, and his initial effort was only good for eighth.

Piastri went to the top of the board, just 0.002 seconds ahead of Leclerc. It was over to Mercedes, and Antonelli slotted in fourth, with Russell in fifth.

After the first laps, Piastri was up in P1, with Norris down in P10. Here was the running order after the initial push laps:

Piastri
Leclerc
Bearman
Antonelli
Russell
Gasly
Lawson
Hadjar
Hülkenberg
Norris

Replays showed that Norris had a lockup at Turn 1 on his effort, costing him crucial time at the start of his lap.

Hülkenberg and Bearman were the first two drivers to take to the track again for the final push laps, followed by Leclerc and Norris.

“For a dry session, it is almost bewilderly wide open,” noted Alex Jacques in the F1TV commentary box.

Leclerc’s final effort put him on provisional pole, but that lap was immediately topped by Norris, who crossed the beam 0.294 seconds ahead of Leclerc. Then it was over to Piastri, whose final lap was good through the first sector, but he was then yellow through the second. A slight improvement in the third sector pulled Piastri close, but his effort was only good for third.

The front row tomorrow will look exactly as it did at the start of the F1 Sprint, with Norris in P1 and Antonelli in P2.

Leclerc will start third, with Piastri in fourth.