Repercussions for the 2025 Formula 1 title fight, big chances for some drivers with headline-grabbing results, and more disappointing performances among F1's 'big four' teams: qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix sprint has certainly set things up nicely.
Of course, nothing's guaranteed for Saturday's race yet, especially with the chance for a big change of weather overnight.
But for now, here's our pick of the clear stars and flops from Friday at Interlagos:
Loser: Oscar Piastri (3rd)
While it was not necessarily a bad qualifying from Piastri, in the context of the title fight it was also not good enough.
In truth, Piastri never looked in contention for pole, but he'd have desperately been hoping that one of the Mercedes drivers could snatch it away from his team-mate even if he couldn't. Instead, one of them ended up splitting Piastri and Lando Norris - who did take pole position.
So, Piastri will line up directly behind his rival and no doubt feel the pressure to regain the momentum he has lost in recent weeks in the first few laps of the sprint. He has every chance to get back on level terms with Norris on Saturday, but the almost two-tenths difference between the pair will likely set some alarm bells ringing on his side of the garage. - Eden Hannigan
Winner: Lando Norris (1st)
A comfortable and assured pole position, just what Norris would have ordered.
The nature of Norris's pole will likely alarm rivals Piastri and Max Verstappen as Norris looked to be the favourite from the first moments of the SQ1.
While Kimi Antonelli provided the biggest threat to the McLaren driver, neither of his title contenders could get near his 1m09.243s as he turned his performance level up a notch by the end of SQ3.
After reclaiming the championship lead in Mexico, it's just the start Norris needed to build on his newfound advantage. - EH
Loser: Max Verstappen (6th)
He's a winner in that he is 12 places ahead of his team-mate and that at least makes for better reading than the (admittedly caveated) struggles of Friday morning.
But there's no doubt Verstappen is a loser overall because it will be very difficult to get up the grid to tackle either McLaren for the second weekend in a row.
Verstappen needs to outscore the McLarens regularly to aid his title push and it would be very easy for all the momentum around his championship challenge to be taken away this weekend.
Never say never; this is Max Verstappen and we all remember last year's Interlagos masterclass, as he cemented his championship against Norris. The shoe is on the other foot now, though, and it is Norris who looks ready to make sure Verstappen isn't a threat. - Hamish Shackleton Bailey
Winner: Kimi Antonelli (2nd)
Antonelli was right on the cusp of an early bath in sprint qualifying, just scraping through in 15th in SQ1.
Thank goodness he did, because Antonelli was able to progress and deliver his second-strongest qualifying performance of the season, only topped by his Miami sprint pole.
Now, he starts on the front row of a race for only the second time in his short F1 career, and with both McLarens either side of him, focused on the title fight, there's a big opportunity for Antonelli to get the headline-grabbing race result his rookie season has so far lacked. - Josh Suttill
Loser: Ferrari (8th and 11th)
Eighth and 11th actually doesn't feel that out of the ordinary for current-spec Ferrari, does it?
Charles Leclerc had luckily put in a lap quick enough for ninth in SQ2 before spinning lazily as he first locked up at the Bico de Pato right-hand hairpin and then gunned the throttle too early which rotated his Ferrari to face the wrong direction.
This spin also screwed Lewis Hamilton, who looked mostly in the same sort of window as Leclerc in the session before, but had any hope of getting into SQ3 dashed by the double-waved yellow flags as a result of Leclerc's misadventure.
And it might yet get worse for Hamilton, who faces an investigation for failing to slow adequately for that Leclerc-instigated yellow flag.
Poor all around, but that just feels like 2025 Ferrari, to be honest. - Jack Benyon
Loser: Yuki Tsunoda (18th)
Red Bull has delayed its decision on who will sit in the senior team's second seat in 2026 but, at this rate, it won't need to delay any longer.
It's been a pretty dismal start to the weekend for Tsunoda. A big mistake in FP1 out of Turn 5, which caused damage to the front and rear of the car, and 18th in sprint qualifying, leaves a sour taste in the mouth for a driver who said on Thursday, he was "90%, something like 85%" of the way there to being fully confident in this car.
If that's true, he might not be good enough to be Verstappen's team-mate. - HSB
Winner: Aston Martin (5th and 7th)
As the four-team, $30million midfield championship fight hots up, Aston Martin's best qualifying result this side of the summer break couldn't be better timed.
Fernando Alonso delivered an Interlagos special - remember he has more podiums here than at any other track (despite never winning in Brazil) - and it's been one of the happier hunting grounds for Aston Martin in this hybrid era. He was only 0.001s slower than George Russell's Mercedes and, given his SQ2-topping pace, you could even argue fifth was an underachievement.
He wasn’t alone either, with Lance Stroll backing him up and ending a miserable run of qualifying performances, reaching the final stage of a qualifying session for the first time since before the summer break.
Should Aston Martin finish in fifth and seventh - a big if, as the Austin sprint showed - then it will get enough points to leapfrog Racing Bulls for sixth in the constructors' standings. - JS
Loser: Carlos Sainz (20th)
Two races ago, Carlos Sainz was in SQ3 (on his way to third in the Austin sprint itself) but he was dead last in sprint qualifying here and lamented the "worst execution I have seen in my life".
The Williams driver had a huge lock-up into Turn 1, the rest of the lap looked scruffy - possibly more because of the car than Sainz errors - and he was clearly upset with how the team had positioned him in the running order, as he watched team-mate Alex Albon breeze through SQ1 then take 12th in SQ2.
Sainz's Baku podium feels a long time ago and the only saving grace here is he gets another go at qualifying for the grand prix proper - assuming the weather allows, that is. - JB
