Lando Norris takes his first Sprint Pole of 2025: Brazil Sprint Qualifying Review

World Championship leader, Lando Norris kicked off his Brazillian GP weekend in style securing sprint pole by less than a tenth of a second ahead of Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli.

The British drivers first sprint pole of the season came as his championship rivals faltered, with McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri only managing P3. Further back, Max Verstappen could only drag his Red Bull into sixth place, the first time he had qualified out of the top five in any race format since he started P8 back at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

As it happened - SQ1

Norris set the pace in Sprint Qualifying 1, setting a blistering lap right at the end of the session to go over three tenths of a second clear of Verstappen. Fernando Alonso continued the good pace that Aston Martin showed in practice to go P3. Meanwhile Ferrari, who have had a tough time at Interlagos so far, could only manage P10 and P12 through Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc respectively.

Despite eventually qualifying on the front row, Antonelli was nearly knocked out in the first part of qualifying as he scraped through in 15th, but the five to be eliminated were Franco Colapinto, Liam Lawson, Yuki Tsunoda, Esteban Ocon and Carlos Sainz.

16th - Franco Colapinto (Alpine) +0.814s

17th - Liam Lawson (Visa RB) +1.039s

18th - Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull) +1.065s

19th- Esteban Ocon (Haas) +1.245s

20th - Carlos Sainz (Williams) +1.493s

SQ2

The second part of sprint qualifying saw Alonso set the pace while Ferrari’s dismal day continued to get worse. The veteran’s lap of a 1.09.3s was enough for him to top the timesheets at the end of the session, ahead of both Norris and Piastri.

Meanwhile, Ferrari seemingly paid the price for their confusing decision to only run the hard tyre in practise. Neither Hamilton nor Leclerc seemed comfortable on the Mediums, and the seven-time world champion was caught out on his final run as Leclerc spun to bring out the double waved yellows.

Ironically it meant the Monegasque made it into SQ3 because of people behind having to abandon their laps, while Lewis will start the sprint from the sixth row of the grid.

Alongside Hamilton, the other four drivers to be knocked out were Alex Albon, Pierre Gasly, Gabriel Bortoleto and Ollie Bearman.

11th - Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) +0.481

12th Alex Albon (Williams) +0.483

13th- Pierre Gasly (Alpine) +0.522

14th - Gabriel Bortoleto (Kick Sauber) +0.593

15th - Ollie Bearman (Haas) +0.616

SQ3

Sprint Qualifying 3 offered the drivers the first opportunity to use the soft tyres in the session, however despite the change in compound it was still Norris who topped the time sheets. The big surprise was the pace of both Mercedes cars as Antonelli and his teammate George Russell sat in a provisional P2 and P3 after the first runs.

It was Lando Norris that took pole ahead of the Mercedes by 0.097 seconds. Oscar Piastri was in the middle of a Mercedes sandwich as George Russell will begin the Sprint from fourth. Further down the grid, a brilliant session from Fernando Alonso was rounded off with a P5 start, while Verstappen could only manage P6.

FINAL QUALIFYING CLASSIFICATION

P1: Lando Norris (McLaren)

P2: Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)

P3 Oscar Piastri (Mclaren)

P4: George Russell (Mercedes)

P5: Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

P6: Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

P7: Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

P8: Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

P9: Isack Hadjar (Visa RB)

P10: Nico Hulkenberg (Kick Sauber)

11th - Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)

12th Alex Albon (Williams)

13th- Pierre Gasly (Alpine)

14th - Gabriel Bortoleto (Kick Sauber)

15th - Ollie Bearman (Haas)

16th - Franco Colapinto (Alpine)

17th - Liam Lawson (Visa RB)

18th - Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull)

19th- Esteban Ocon (Haas)

20th - Carlos Sainz (Williams)

What the Top 3 had to say

Lando Norris: “It was a little bit tougher than I would’ve liked. It was close between a lot of cars, the Mercedes were quick on the soft tyre. It’s tricky having the medium and the soft and knowing when to push but we did the job which we needed to do which was to be fastest today.”

Kimi Antonelli:“It was a good session overall, Q1 was a bit scrappy but then we got into our rhythm. P2 for tomorrow so there is a lot to fight for."

Oscar Piastri: "P3, a decent session and day overall. The car was a little bit tricky in Sprint Qualifying, but I feel much happier today than I have over the last couple of weeks, which is good. Just some things to tidy up to put us in the best position for tomorrow, but ultimately, I am happy."