SAO PAULO: Series leader Lando Norris grabbed his first sprint pole position of the season on Friday to keep his title hopes on track as he topped qualifying ahead of Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli and his McLaren team-mate and rival Oscar Piastri.
The 25-year-old Briton, who leads Piastri by one point in the drivers’ championship with four Grands Prix remaining, clocked a best lap in one minute and 9.243 in the final seconds of a tense session at a warm Interlagos.
Antonelli was second, 0.097seconds adrift, with Piastri 0.185 behind in third ahead of George Russell in the second Mercedes and two-time champion Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin.
Max Verstappen, who is 36 points behind Norris in the title race, was an unhappy sixth for Red Bull, the four-time champion grumbling about the balance of his car, ahead of Lance Stroll in the second Aston Martin, and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
Red Bulls’ rookie Isack Hadjar qualified in ninth place ahead of Nico Hulkenberg of Sauber with seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton 11th in his Ferrari.
“A good day for me today,” said Norris, who regained the championship lead for the first time in six months by winning in Mexico two weeks ago.
“It’s a long weekend and it’s only Friday—and it’s forecast to be windy and wet so we have to be prepared for that.”
“It was a little bit tougher than I would’ve liked,” said Norris. “It’s always tricky when you’ve got the medium and the soft and knowing how much more to push - or not to push sometimes, but we did the job we needed to do, which was to be fastest today. It’s trickier than Mexico and I’ve not been feeling quite as comfortable. Therefore, it’s a great result.”
Verstappen briefly took command in 1:10.107 but it was soon overhauled by Russell and then both Norris and Piastri while Ferrari struggled with Lewis Hamilton 10th and Leclerc 12th.
Verstappen managed to split the McLarens in the final seconds, reminding them of his threat in the title race, before SQ2 began with local hero Gabriel Bortoleto leading out in his Sauber.
