Brazilian GP – Lando Norris on pole for the Sprint ahead of Kimi Antonelli

While a cyclone warning threatens São Paulo, it's a tornado Lando Norris who first struck the hallowed ground of Ayrton Senna. The Briton secured pole position for the sprint race by dominating his teammate Oscar piastri et Max Verstappen, his two rivals for the title.

Better than simply beating them, Lando Norris saw them miss out on the front row: the Australian will start third, while the Dutchman is only sixth. Neither man could beat Kimi Antonelli, who had a very strong qualifying session (2nd). The rookie, who took pole position in Miami, came close to repeating the performance by setting the fastest time on his first attempt, before being overtaken by Norris on his second run.

Both drivers managed to handle the tricky soft tire, which struggled to maintain its performance throughout a lap. This surprised Verstappen, but also Charles Leclerc, only 8th. The Monegasque player, however, did better than his teammate Lewis Hamiltoneliminated in SQ2 with the 11th fastest time.

On the other hand, the excellent performance is to the credit of the Aston Martin, who both reached SQ3. Fernando Alonso will start 5th, between George Russell in front of him and Max Verstappen behind, while Lance stroll, 7th, will start right behind the Dutchman. Behind them, Isack Hadjar, 9th, will be battling for points as Nico Hulkenberg, 10rd.

This is likely to be more complicated for Pierre Gasly (13th), who nevertheless reached SQ2, and for Esteban Ocon (19th), once again beaten by Oliver Bearman in the exercise. With rain forecast for Saturday, the drivers will start at 15 p.m. French time.

F1 – Brazilian Grand Prix
The sprint qualifying rankings