F1 Brazil GP: Norris beats Antonelli to pole as Verstappen qualifies 16th

Lando Norris has defeated Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Charles Leclerc to pole at Formula 1's Brazilian Grand Prix, with Oscar Piastri fourth and Max Verstappen sensationally down in 16th.

After making a mistake on his first Q3 flyer with a lock-up in Turn 1, Norris pieced together a much-improved lap to blitz the field with a 1m09.511s.

That proved nearly two tenths faster than Mercedes rookie Antonelli in a session dictated by tiny margins, with Ferrari's Leclerc third.

Piastri led the first runs in Q3 with a 1m09.897s, just 0.002s ahead of Ferrari's Leclerc. But the Australian, who tried to rally from crashing out of Saturday morning's sprint race, could only find a couple of thousandths on his second effort and dropped to fourth on the grid.

Oliver Bearman initially looked like the star of the show after looking in contention for pole early on, but ultimately it was fellow rookie Isack Hadjar who stole his thunder by qualifying an outstanding fifth ahead of George Russell, who was baffled by balance woes on his Mercedes.

Hadjar's Racing Bulls team-mate Liam Lawson also enjoyed a strong session in seventh, sharing the fourth row with Bearman after the pair tangled in the sprint race.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Photo by: Andy Hone/ LAT Images via Getty Images

Pierre Gasly was an excellent ninth for Alpine as the Enstone squad proved more competitive in Brazil, with Nico Hulkenberg rounding out the top 10 for Sauber.

Norris also topped Q2 with a 1m09.616s ahead of a surprising Bearman, while the Ferraris soon came under pressure in the middle of an extremely compact field.

After suffering a tank slapper on his first attempt Leclerc was on the outside looking in, but he recovered to advance to Q3. The same couldn't be said from Lewis Hamilton, who had been on the bubble and missed the cut by a tenth in 13th.

Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso couldn't improve on his final attempt and paid the price by being eliminated in 11th by a 0.016s margin. Underlining just how close the margins were, Alonso missed the cut despite being just a quarter of a second slower than Bearman in second.

Alonso was followed out by Williams' Alex Albon. Behind Hamilton in 13th, Lance Stroll and Carlos Sainz were also knocked out in Q2. Norris also swept the first qualifying segment ahead of Gasly, Bearman and Piastri, with a 1m09.656s.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Mark Thompson - Getty Images

But while the McLarens were safely through, their outside title rival Verstappen soon found himself in big trouble.

Red Bull's significant post-sprint set-up changes to remedy its car's handling problems appeared to solve one problem but introduce another, as Verstappen set two poor laps on the same set of softs which left the reigning world champion in the drop zone with five minutes to go.

Verstappen found nearly three tenths on his final attempt, but so did the cars around him, leaving the Dutchman a shock 16th, a tenth from safety and a massive eight tenths behind leader Norris.

Verstappen was followed out by Esteban Ocon and Franco Colapinto, who tried to rally from a heavy sprint race crash in a spare chassis. Yuki Tsunoda was also eliminated in 19th, consigning Red Bull to its first double Q1 exit since the 2006 Japanese Grand Prix.

There was huge disappointment for the Brazilian fans as Gabriel Bortoleto, their first home driver in eight years, failed to make qualifying following his colossal sprint race shunt. Sauber mechanics kept working on his car until the very last second, but weren't able to send the rookie out in time.

F1 Brazil GP - Qualifying results

Q3

All Stats

 

Cla	Driver	#		Chassis	Engine	Laps	Time	Interval	Tyres	km/h
1	L. Norris McLaren	4		McLaren	Mercedes	21	1'09.511		S	223.164
2	A. Antonelli Mercedes	12		Mercedes	Mercedes	16	+0.174 1'09.685	0.174	S	222.607
3	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16		Ferrari	Ferrari	22	+0.294 1'09.805	0.120	S	222.224
4	O. Piastri McLaren	81		McLaren	Mercedes	19	+0.375 1'09.886	0.081	S	221.967
5	I. Hadjar RB	6		RB	Honda	21	+0.420 1'09.931	0.045	S	221.824
6	G. Russell Mercedes	63		Mercedes	Mercedes	16	+0.431 1'09.942	0.011	S	221.789
7	L. Lawson RB	30		RB	Honda	21	+0.451 1'09.962	0.020	S	221.726
8	O. Bearman Haas F1 Team	87		Haas	Ferrari	19	+0.466 1'09.977	0.015	S	221.678
9	P. Gasly Alpine	10		Alpine	Renault	21	+0.491 1'10.002	0.025	S	221.599
10	N. Hulkenberg Sauber	27		Sauber	Ferrari	23	+0.528 1'10.039	0.037	S	221.482
View full results