McLaren’s Lando Norris claimed pole position for the 2025 Sao Paulo Sprint in Interlagos, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Norris snatched top spot in practice at the checkered flag before he went on to top two of the sprint qualifying segments to claim pole position as he continued his recent momentum ahead of title rival and teammate, Oscar Piastri.
Practice
Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli was first out on track after a five-minute delay but it was Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso who set the initial pace on 1m 12.662 before Piastri, Norris and Mercedes’ George Russell exchanged fastest lap times, until Russell set 1m 11.542 in the 11th minute.
The Brit subsequently twice lowered the benchmark to 1m 11.188 by the quarter-of-a-hour mark as everyone ran the hard tyre for both opening and race simulation stints.
Several drivers opted to run the medium tyre rather than soft tyre in Qualifying simulations as Williams’ Carlos Sainz briefly set the pace on 1m 10.820, before Piastri found 0.627 seconds to go quickest with 1m 10.193 from Norris.
The McLaren pair however found further time at the checkered flag as Norris snatched the quickest lap time of the session with 1m 09.975, just 0.023s clear of Piastri.
Red Bull were the only team to run the soft tyre at the end of the session but Max Verstappen aborted his flier, whilst Yuki Tsunoda could only finish slowest after he suffered an early spin in the session which saw him miss circa 30 minutes before he put the softest tyre on.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1m 09.975 |
| 2 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 0.023 |
| 3 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber | + 0.619 |
| 4 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 0.631 |
| 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Sauber | + 0.641 |
| 6 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.670 |
| 7 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 0.706 |
| 8 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | + 0.711 |
| 9 | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls | + 0.732 |
| 10 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | + 0.769 |
| 11 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | + 0.819 |
| 12 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 0.832 |
| 13 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | + 0.931 |
| 14 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | + 0.986 |
| 15 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 1.095 |
| 16 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | + 1.185 |
| 17 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 1.393 |
| 18 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 1.518 |
| 19 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | + 1.551 |
| 20 | Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull | + 1.788 |
Sprint Qualifying
SQ1
Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda was first on track and set 1m 11.353 as the benchmark time but his lap was quickly beaten by both McLaren drivers as Piastri set 1m 10.286 to head Norris by 0.025s.
Verstappen and Russell briefly displaced the McLaren duo but Norris responded with 1m 09.702 to go top from Piastri by 0.315s.
The elimination zone once everyone completed a flier comprised of; Albon, Ocon, Colapinto, Sainz and Tsunoda with five minutes left.
At the checkered flag, Ocon and Sainz couldn’t improved and finished slowest in 19th and 20th respectively behind Tsunoda, as the Red Bull driver improved to 18th behind Lawson on the penultimate row, as Colapinto lines up 16th for the sprint just hours after Alpine renewed his contract for 2026.
Norris meanwhile topped the session with 1m 09.627 to set the pace as everyone ran the medium tyre as is mandatory in SQ1 and SQ2.
SQ2
Sauber’s hometown hero, Bortoleto was first on track and set 1m 09.963 to go top but once everyone set a lap time, Alonso surprisingly set the pace with 1m 09.330 as just 0.633s covered the top 15.
Hamilton, Albon, Gasly, Bearman and Bortoleto meanwhile found themselves in the drop zone once everyone had set a lap time.
Once the checkered flag fell, nobody really improved after Leclerc spun at Bico de Pato as Hamilton, Albon and Gasly stayed 11-13th respectively, but Bortoleto set his fastest lap before Leclerc’s spin to move above Bearman into 14th position as the Brit failed to get a final lap in.
Alonso meanwhile finished the segment fastest from Norris and Piastri as 0.086s split the top three.
SQ3
Russell was the first driver to venture out on the soft tyres and set 1m 09.556 as the benchmark but Antonelli went 0.216s faster than his teammate with 1m 09.340 just moments later.
Norris however produced 1m 09.271 to head Antonelli, Russell, Piastri and Leclerc as just five drivers opted for an early SQ3 run.
At the checkered flag, nobody could beat Norris who became the fifth different sprint pole-sitter this season with 1m 09.243, as Antonelli qualified second ahead of Piastri whilst Russell took fourth from Alonso by 0.001s.
Verstappen, Stroll, Leclerc, Hadjar and Hulkenberg rounded out the top ten for the sprint which gets underway at 11am local time (2pm GMT) on Saturday 8 November.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1m 09.243 |
| 2 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | + 0.097 |
| 3 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 0.185 |
| 4 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.252 |
| 5 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 0.253 |
| 6 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 0.337 |
| 7 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 0.428 |
| 8 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.482 |
| 9 | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls | + 0.532 |
| 10 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber | + 0.692 |
| 11 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 1m 09.811 |
| 12 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 0.002 |
| 13 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 0.041 |
| 14 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Sauber | + 0.112 |
| 15 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | + 0.135 |
| 16 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | 1m 10.441 |
| 17 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | + 0.225 |
| 18 | Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull | + 0.251 |
| 19 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | + 0.431 |
| 20 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | + 0.679 |