Lando Norris takes Brazilian Grand Prix Sprint pole ahead of Kimi Antonelli and Oscar Piastri

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Lando Norris has taken his first Sprint race pole ahead of the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, as both Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen struggle to match his pace.

Lando Norris set the fastest time in the earlier practice session today, after pipping his teammate right at the end of the session. Norris will start the Sprint race two places ahead of Piastri, after taking the lead in the championship in Mexico last time out.

Ferrari started the Sprint qualifying with disappointing pace, which saw both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc in 11th and 13th, respectively, after the first flying laps. Both cars made it into SQ2, although they were both still out of the top 10 at the end of the first session.

Yuki Tsunoda was knocked out of the SQ1 after an earlier crash in practice saw him miss valuable run time this morning. Although it is just Sprint qualifying, the Red Bull driver is under increasing pressure to perform with the team still yet to decide on his F1 future.

Another shock SQ1 elimination was Carlos Sainz in the Williams, who locked up in Turn 1, ending his final flying lap. The Spaniard, who finished third in the last Sprint race in Austin, appeared angry with the set-up of the car, telling his race engineer “this is the worst execution I have seen in my life.”

Both Ferrari drivers locked up in their first SQ2 runs, leaving Hamilton in danger of elimination and Leclerc just two places out of the danger zone. The pair were under increasing pressure at the end of the second run, with Hamilton not making it to the line for another run.

Leclerc triggered a double-waved yellows right at the end of SQ2 after a big spin at Mugolio, which stopped several drivers, including Pierre Gasly and Oliver Bearman, from getting a final flying lap.

Hamilton was then noted ahead of SQ3 for a yellow flag infringement, which will be investigated after the session.

Max Verstappen was unhappy with the pace of his Red Bull, claiming that the car was ‘broken’. The Dutchman was one of four cars, including both Aston Martins and Isack Hadjar, to risk just a single flying lap at the end of Sprint qualifying.

The risk did not pay off for Verstappen, who will start the Sprint Race from P6, behind Alonso’s Aston Martin and both McLarens and Mercedes cars.