Lando Norris claimed pole for the sprint in Sao Paulo, ahead of Kimi Antonelli, while Oscar Piastri would line up directly behind his McLaren teammate in third place.
It took until SQ3 for Norris to reach top qualifying, but he was unbeatable in the battle for first place, completing two laps fast enough to secure pole position on a single set of soft tyres. His final lap set the benchmark at 1:09.243 seconds, giving him a small but decisive margin of 0.097 seconds ahead of Antonelli, making him the fifth different Sprint pole setter of the season.
“It was a little bit harder than I would have liked,” he said. “It was exciting between many cars. Mercedes was fast on the soft tires.
“We did what we had to do, which was the fastest today. Tougher than Mexico. I didn’t feel very comfortable, but that’s why it’s a great result. It’s only Friday, so one more qualifying and a few more races to go, but a good start.”
Antonelli threatened on his second flying lap, but a moment from Junção corner before the long climb up the hill to the finish prevented him from improving on his opening lap, leaving him on the front row.
Piastri, one point behind Norris in the title standings, passed the first corner with his first flying lap, leaving him almost 0.4 seconds behind his teammate. His second attempt closed the gap, but only to 0.185 seconds, leaving him third on the grid.
That second lap was enough to put Piastri ahead of George Russell, who had led after the opening laps, but the Briton could not keep the pace on his second attempt, leaving him fourth, ahead of Fernando Alonso in fifth.
Max Verstappen led SQ1 and finished the day fastest in the first sector, but never threatened for pole. The Dutchman complained during the session that his “car is completely broken, it’s just impossible to drive anymore”, and he shook his head in disappointment as he crossed the line with the sixth fastest time of SQ3.
Lance Stroll will finish in seventh place, ahead of Charles Leclerc, whose eighth place was representative of Ferrari’s pace at Interlagos, while Isack Hadjar and Nico Hulkenberg completed the top 10.
Lewis Hamilton will finish in 11th place after a poorly executed SQ2 in which he stumbled through traffic on his final out-lap – including double-waving yellow flags for drawn-out team-mate Leclerc – and missed the checkered flag, leaving no chance to improve his time.
“Every time, buddy,” he radioed in frustration.
Hamilton will also face the stewards over an alleged yellow flag breach, with the Brit appearing to have put his foot down as he passed his spun teammate looking for a chance to set up a second lap.
Alex Albon qualified 21st ahead of a frustrated Pierre Gasly, who was on course to improve his time before encountering yellow flags guarding against Leclerc-spinning Ferrari, whose mistake may have stopped others from pushing him into the knockout zone.
Home favorite Gabriel Bortoleto was eliminated in 14th, ahead of Haas driver Oliver Bearman.
Recently re-signed Franco Colapinto will start 16th for Alpine, ahead of Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson.
Yuki Tsunoda’s painful day continued. After missing around half of practice following a crash, the under-pressure Japanese racer never looked in contention to break out of SQ1, finishing 18th and 1.065 seconds behind qualifying.
Haas driver Esteban Ocon will line up in 19th place, ahead of last-placed Carlos Sainz, for whom a lock-up at the first corner put him wide into the first corner and prevented him from improving with his final flying lap.
RESULTS
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