Norris and Antonelli star again in Sao Paulo GP qualifying

Lando Norris scored pole position for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix and Kimi Antonelli posted a last-gasp fast lap for second to mirror the Sprint’s front row.

Norris suffered a lockup at Turn 1 on his first lap of Q3, losing almost a second and leaving him down in 10th, but his second run delivered a personal best in the first sector followed by session best times in second and third sectors and a lap time of 1m09.511s.

Mercedes’s Antonelli was 0.174s adrift with his final lap, usurping Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, who will join Norris's McLaren teammate and chief championship contender Oscar Piastri on the second row of the grid. The Australian posted a personal best time in the first sector on his final lap, but was 0.282s down in the second sector as he failed to make a dent into Norris' advantage.

Isack Hadjar delivered a fine performance to qualify fifth, with George Russell splitting the Racing Bulls in sixth ahead Liam Lawson.

Haas’ Oliver Bearman was third in Q1 and second in Q2, but couldn't continue that form into the final part of qualifying, winding up eighth despite keeping two new sets of soft tires aside for the session.

Pierre Gasly began qualifying strongly for Alpine, going second quickest in Q1 but eventually wound up ninth, with Nico Hulkenberg in 10th for Sauber as he made Q3 for the first time this season – the first since Abu Dhabi 2024 where he qualified seventh.

The unusual top 10 was a result of major casualties earlier in qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen both failing to make Q3 for only the second occasion in the time both have been racing together – coincidentally the only other time was last year’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Hamilton struggled for rear grip in his Ferrari and could only manage the 13th-fastest time in Q2, behind Fernando Alonso and Alex Albon. Their respective Aston Martin and Williams teammates Lance Stroll and Carlos Sainz also failed to advance from Q2.

Verstappen was also unhappy with the grip of his car, despite a significant setup change ahead of qualifying which cured bouncing he was complaining of, but opened up other issues. After two cool-down laps before his final push, he lost time in the first and final sectors, although did set a personal best in the second.

It marked the first time in his career that Verstappen failed to advance from Q1 on pure pace, and the first time he'd exited at that stage at all since the 2021 Russian Grand Prix where he failed to set a lap time after taking power unit penalties.

Verstappen was 16th in Q1, ahead of Franco Colapinto – who took a new chassis and gearbox for his Alpine after his crash in the Sprint earlier in the day – and teammate Yuki Tsunoda.

It was the first time Red Bull faced a double Q1 exit since the 2006 Japanese GP, where David Coulthard and Robert Doornbos qualified 17th and 18th respectively, in the team's second season in F1 before it had won a single race or championship title.

While he was able to get into the car before the end of the session, Gabriel Bortoleto didn't manage to take to the track in Q1 following a mammoth rebuild of his Sauber after his huge crash at the end of the Sprint. This was despite a short delay to qualifying getting underway due to barrier repairs taking place after the supporting Porsche Supercup race that preceded it.

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