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Perfect day for Lando Norris as he surges to pole after winning sprint race
This time 12 months ago Lando Norris’s championship hopes were washed away in a Brazilian deluge. The Briton blew pole position at Interlagos and Max Verstappen came back from 17th on the grid to win one of the great races in modern Formula One.
On Sunday, Norris will have the chance to rectify that and consolidate his lead in the title race.
An almost perfect day for Norris ended with the McLaren driver once again on pole, having earlier won the sprint race to move nine points clear of his team-mate Oscar Piastri, who crashed out on lap six.
Norris then surged to pole in a qualifying session where Piastri was fourth fastest and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, the only other driver in championship contention, could only qualify 16th.
The Dutchman is unarguably the best driver out there right now. But even he is going to struggle to come back from 16th with a car which he described as “undriveable” during the sprint race, in which he finished fourth, and which Red Bull appeared to make worse for qualifying.
Verstappen, who lies 39 points behind Norris heading into Sunday’s race, was completely at a loss to explain Red Bull’s sudden loss of performance. He sounded the alarm on his first run in Q1. “The car and the ride is a tiny bit better, but now sliding in turn one,” he reported of the changes the team had made between the sprint race and qualifying. He later added: “Yeah, I have no grip. Zero. Brilliant.”
The last time Verstappen failed to make it through to Q2 was back in Sochi in 2021, although that was due to an engine penalty. This was the first time in his entire career that he had been eliminated from Q1 without a car malfunction or a crash.
Unless the heavens open again, or something truly wacky occurs during Sunday’s race – which is not impossible in Brazil – Verstappen’s championship hopes could slide away this weekend, just as Norris’s did 12 months ago.
Laurent Mekies, the Red Bull team principal, admitted his team had taken a gamble after the sprint race. “Obviously no one expected something like that,” the Frenchman said of Verstappen’s 16th place. “We’ve been unhappy with the car pretty much since we got here, but we were in a position [in the sprint race] where at least we could fight, not for the win but with the cars just behind.
“It’s fair to say we took a risk [before qualifying] and it has gone the opposite direction. We changed some significant things because that’s the sort of risk we had to take. It was bold and sometimes it doesn’t go your way. But that’s our approach.”
What an opportunity this is for Norris, who not only starts from pole but will have the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli and the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc between himself and Piastri.
The gap between to the Australian is still small, but Norris has the momentum. His sprint race victory was assured. And although he locked up into turn one on his first run in Q3, wasting that lap, he nailed his second run, posting a 1min 09.511sec, to beat Antonelli by 0.134sec.
“It was tough out there with the conditions,” he said afterwards. “Just slippery, inconsistent. But I felt good. I was under a bit of pressure after I locked up on my first lap, but I stayed calm and put it all together when it mattered.”
Piastri will still be a threat from fourth. The Australian has looked faster this weekend than he has in recent races, his sprint race crash notwithstanding. That came after Piastri strayed on to a kerb which was still wet from an earlier shower. But he needs to do something to slow Norris’s charge.
“Obviously, bit disappointed with the result but the car has looked quick this weekend, especially over a longer run, so hopefully I can take advantage of that tomorrow,” he said.
Norris will just hope to get away cleanly. After his washout 12 months ago, he has the chance to steal a march in this year’s race.
Sao Paulo Grand Prix, qualifying classification
- Lando Norris (Gbr) McLaren 1min 09.511secs
- Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Ita) Mercedes GP 1:09.685
- Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari 1:09.805
- Oscar Piastri (Aus) McLaren 1:09.886
- Isack Hadjar (Fra) RB 1:09.931
- George Russell (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1:09.942
- Liam Lawson (Nzl) RB 1:09.962
- Oliver Bearman (Gbr) Haas F1 1:09.977
- Pierre Gasly (Fra) Alpine 1:10.002
- Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Kick Sauber 1:10.039
- Fernando Alonso (Spa) Aston Martin 1:10.001
- Alexander Albon (Tha) Williams 1:10.053
- Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Ferrari 1:10.100
- Lance Stroll (Can) Aston Martin 1:10.161
- Carlos Sainz Jr. (Spa) Williams 1:10.472
- Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1:10.403
- Esteban Ocon (Fra) Haas F1 1:10.438
- Franco Colapinto (Arg) Alpine 1:10.632
- Yuki Tsunoda (Jpn) Red Bull 1:10.711
- Gabriel Bortoleto (Bra) Kick Sauber
[Source: Daily Telegraph]
