Lando Norris takes Brazilian Grand Prix pole as Max Verstappen shocks with early Q1 exit

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Lando Norris will start the Brazilian Grand Prix from pole position ahead of Kimi Antonelli after Max Verstappen suffered a surprise Q1 exit.

After initial forecasts of a wet qualifying session, it appeared sunny at the start of the run, with no immediate threat of rain.

Early Q1 flying laps saw Ollie Bearman top the timings ahead of Kimi Antonelli and Lewis Hamilton, with Oscar Piastri finding himself in the drop zone after a run on used soft tyres.

Both Red Bull drivers were under pressure with just five minutes of the first session remaining. Despite doing two flying laps, Verstappen found himself in P16 and in the danger zone, before complaining that the Red Bull was struggling with sliding.

The Dutchman’s championship hopes appear to have disintegrated after he was unable to pull himself out of the drop zone. Red Bull found both drivers out of the session with Verstappen starting from P16 and Yuki Tsunoda in P19.

Despite hopes that Sauber could repair Gabriel Bortoleto’s car in time for the qualifying session, the team were unfortunately unable to get the Brazilian out onto the track. Bortoleto suffered a nasty crash during the last lap of the Sprint race, which saw him flying into the Turn 1 barrier.

First flying laps in Q2 saw Oliver Bearman top the timing sheets ahead of his former F2 teammate Kimi Antonelli. Both Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly suffered dramatic slides in their first runs which saw both under pressure in the drop zone.

Most drivers seemed unhappy with the lack of grip, including George Russell, who told his race engineer: “I’ve got no grip… We are missing something here, don’t know what.”

Another shock came in the second part of qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton unable to get his Ferrari up into Q3. The Brit struggled for grip at Mergulho, which is usually flat out, seeing him eliminated alongside both Williams and Aston Martin drivers.

Norris locked up in the first part of his first Q3 lap, seeing him seven tenths back in the first sector, before the McLaren set the fastest middle and final sectors. The time wasn’t quite good enough, seeing the championship leader in fifth.

Piastri took provisional pole for the Brazilian Grand Prix, just two-thousandths of a second ahead of Charles Leclerc and Oliver Bearman just behind in third. Russell was still unconfident with the Mercedes in the final stages, as he sat behind his teammate in fourth and fifth provisionally.

Norris found form in the final flying lap, putting his McLaren on top ahead of Kimi Antonelli, in an identical front row start from the Sprint race.

Leclerc will start the Brazilian Grand Prix in third place ahead of Oscar Piastri, in a qualifying session which could prove crucial to the championship standings. Bearman looked as though he could cause upset during Q3 but failed to deliver in the final lap, seeing him drop to P8.