Formula 1 championship leader Lando Norris did two laps good enough for pole position for the sprint race at the Brazilian Grand Prix, while Max Verstappen could only manage sixth.
Norris claimed his first sprint pole of 2025, continuing the strong run of form that included him moving back ahead of McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri two weeks ago, for the first time since April.
Piastri was third, two tenths adrift of Norris and allowing Kimi Antonelli to split the McLarens and put his Mercedes on the front row.
That’s despite Antonelli ending up 15th in SQ1, narrowly avoiding an early exit.
George Russell was fourth, just 0.001s ahead of Fernando Alonso, who had topped SQ2 for Aston Martin.
Verstappen had to settle for sixth, complaining of poor balance aboard his RB21 all session long.
Lance Stroll completed a solid day for Aston Martin in seventh place - his best qualifying of the second half of the season.
Charles Leclerc was eighth on a tricky Friday for Ferrari, ahead of Isack Hadjar’s Racing Bulls and Nico Hulkenberg’s Sauber.
Disaster for Hamilton in SQ2
Leclerc spinning in the dying stages of SQ2 out of the Bico de Pato right-hander cost others a chance to avoid an SQ2 exit - including his Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton.
The Ferraris struggled for pace throughout qualifying with Leclerc and Hamilton ninth and 11th ahead of the crunch stage of SQ2.
Hamilton was required to lift under the double-waved yellow flags that he passed for the stricken sister Ferrari - though it’s debatable whether he did enough to observe them, as the stewards quickly noted him and placed him under a post-session investigation for a yellow-flag infringement.
He was followed by Alex Albon’s Williams and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly, who had been showing strong pace, going eighth in SQ1.
Gabriel Bortoleto’s Sauber and Ollie Bearman’s Haas were also knocked out, both having also been in the top 10 in SQ1.
Tsunoda out in SQ2
Yuki Tsunoda qualified 18th for the second sprint event running as his Red Bull struggles continued. He was seven tenths slower than Verstappen and three tenths away from a place in SQ2.
He was joined by a furious Carlos Sainz, who, after qualifying 20th and last, told his Williams team: “This is the worst execution I have seen in my life.”
Franco Colapinto, newly re-signed by his Alpine team for 2026, ended up 16th ahead of Liam Lawson, Tsunoda, Esteban Ocon’s Haas and Sainz.
Sprint qualifying times
1 Lando Norris (McLaren) 1m09.243s
2 Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) 1m09.340s
3 Oscar Piastri (McLaren) 1m09.428s
4 George Russell (Mercedes) 1m09.495s
5 Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) 1m09.496s
6 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 1m09.580s
7 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) 1m09.671s
8 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 1m09.725s
9 Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls) 1m09.775s
10 Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber) 1m09.935s
11 Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) 1m09.811s
12 Alex Albon (Williams) 1m09.813s
13 Pierre Gasly (Alpine) 1m09.852s
14 Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber) 1m09.923s
15 Ollie Bearman (Haas) 1m09.946s
16 Franco Colapinto (Alpine) 1m10.441s
17 Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) 1m10.666s
18 Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull) 1m10.692s
19 Esteban Ocon (Haas) 1m10.872s
20 Carlos Sainz (Williams) 1m11.120s
