Lando Norrisfrom McLaren, won this Saturday the pole position of the Brazilian Grand Prixon a day in which he consolidated himself as leader of the world championship of the Formula 1 with his previous victory in the sprint race and the disappointing classification of Max Verstappen.
The British, 25 years old, He set a time of 1:09.511 minutes in the third qualifying session at the Interlagos circuit in Sao Paulo; while the Italian Kimi Antonelli, from Mercedes, made the second best time with 1:09.685, and the Monegasque Charles Leclerc, from Ferrari, the third with 1:09.805.
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Just behind them was Norris’ teammate and main rival for the title, the Australian Oscar Piastri, with 1:09.886.
With four races left until the end of the season, Norris leads the World Championship with 365 points and Piastri was left with 356 after having abandoned the sprint earlier due to a crash on the wet track of the legendary Ayrton Senna’s old home.
“The result is a bit disappointing,” Piastri said. “But the car seemed quick this weekend, especially on the long runs, so hopefully I can take advantage of that tomorrow.”
Third in the standings with 326, Verstappen will start in sixteenth place, an unusual position for Red Bull’s four-time world champion and one that diminishes his chances of achieving his fifth consecutive crown.
“It was tough because of the track conditions, slippery, although in good condition (…). It is always a pleasure to race on this circuit, so I felt good,” Norris celebrated, on a day in which rain did not appear despite weather alerts issued on Friday by local authorities.
Antonelli surprises
Showers in the early morning, however, complicated things.
“We’ve been in good shape,” added Norris, who took pole in a magnificent final lap, after also dominating Q1 and Q2.
“I’m a little angry about being behind him,” said Antonelli, who had also escorted the Briton in the sprint.
However, the 19-year-old rookie was satisfied with his performance and hopes to “set a good pace” in the GP.
The Frenchman Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls), the British George Russell (Mercedes), the New Zealander Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls), the British Oliver Bearman (Haas), the Frenchman Pierre Gasly (Alpine) and the German Nico Hülkenberg (Sauber) completed the Top 10 of the starting grid for Sunday’s race (17:00 GMT).
Vertappen misses out on fifth championship
In the second qualifying session, the Spanish Fernando Alonso was eliminated (Aston Martin), the Thai Alexander Albon (Williams), the British Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari), the Canadian Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) and the Spanish Carlos Sainz (Williams).
In the first it was Verstappen’s turn, three-time winner of the Brazilian Grand Prix.
“It’s not what you want to see. The whole weekend has been quite tough, but this… this is a bit unexpected after changing the car quite a bit (…) which just didn’t respond. It had no grip, so I had to drive very low than normal and it just didn’t work,” the Dutchman told reporters.
The French Esteban Ocon (Haas), the Argentine Franco Colapinto (Alpine), the Japanese Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull) and the Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber), who finally could not race in qualifying, were ruled out with him in Q1.
“I felt quite slow, we changed the entire car so there are surely several changes (…) With the crash in the sprint we were not able to demonstrate the potential of the car,” said Colapinto, who had an accident in the mini-race.
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On the sidelines
The Sauber mechanics lost the race against time they had to repair Bortoleto’s car after the spectacular crash suffered in the sprint.
First Brazilian in the Brazilian GP since Felipe Massa in 2017, the 21-year-old driver had problems with the steering wheel and lost control of the carwhich crashed into the left protective barrier, bounced from the impact, rose into the air and ended up hitting the right barrier.