Brazilian GP: Piastri grabs sprint pole

The McLaren duo Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris starts the sprint in São Paulo from the first two positions Formula 1 on Saturday (3 p.m./CET). World Cup leaders Max Verstappen im Red Bull finished behind in qualifying on Friday Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc in fourth place. Norris set the best time in the only training session.

Piastri drove 0.029 seconds faster than Norris in the newly asphalted Interlagos Autódromo. “It was tricky, the grip only came during the session. It’s challenging on the track, but I’m very happy with pole,” said Piastri. “I was surprised that we were so quick, but it’s a nice surprise. “I just made a few mistakes in qualifying,” said Norris. He doesn’t care where Verstappen is. “I’m just concentrating on myself.” Defending champion Verstappen, who went into the weekend 47 points ahead of Norris, was 0.320 seconds behind pole-sitter Piastri. “It was a bit difficult to drive on the bumps, they are not good for our car,” said Verstappen. His crisis-ridden stablemate Sergio Perez didn’t get past 13th place. “We are too slow, we lose too much in turns four and nine on McLaren. The uneven track doesn’t help either. Keeping up with McLaren is de facto impossible,” said Red-Bull-Motorsportberater Helmut Marko.

Like Perez, Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes didn’t even make it into the final qualifying phase in eleventh place. Haas driver Kevin Magnussen was unwell on Friday, his replacement Oliver Bearman impressed in the qualification in tenth place. After the sprint on Saturday there is also the qualification for the Grand Prix on Sunday. The starting position promises a lot of excitement. Verstappen is moved five places back on the grid due to an engine change.