SAO PAULO: Series leader Lando Norris grabbed his first sprint pole position of the season on Friday to keep his title hopes on track as he topped qualifying ahead of Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli and his McLaren team-mate and rival Oscar Piastri.
The 25-year-old Briton, who leads Piastri by one point in the drivers’ championship with four Grands Prix remaining, clocked a best lap in one minute and 9.243 in the final seconds of a tense session at a warm Interlagos.
Antonelli was second, 0.097seconds adrift, with Piastri 0.185 behind in third ahead of George Russell in the second Mercedes and two-time champion Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin.
Max Verstappen, who is 36 points behind Norris in the title race, was an unhappy sixth for Red Bull, the four-time champion grumbling about the balance of his car, ahead of Lance Stroll in the second Aston Martin, and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc,
Racing Bulls' rookie Isack Hadjar qualified in ninth place ahead of Nico Hulkenberg of Sauber with seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton 11th in his Ferrari.
"A good day for me today," said Norris, who regained the championship lead for the first time in six months by winning in Mexico two weeks ago.
"It’s a long weekend and it’s only Friday -- and it’s forecast to be windy and wet so we have to be prepared for that."
"It was a little bit tougher than I would've liked," said Norris. “It’s always tricky when you've got the medium and the soft and knowing how much more to push - or not to push sometimes, but we did the job we needed to do, which was to be fastest today. It’s trickier than Mexico and I've not been feeling quite as comfortable. Therefore, it's a great result."
On first runs, Alonso set the pace in 1:09.330, a lap-time that remained untouched ahead of Norris and Piastri.
Verstappen went through in eighth from SQ2, complaining that "the car is completely broken, it’s just undriveable!" Hamilton was also unhappy and was noted for a ‘yellow flag infringement’.
This left Russell to clock the first fast lap on softs in 1:09.556, a time beaten by Antonelli and then Norris in 1:09.271. Piastri was three-tenths off in fourth as they prepared for their final runs in the shootout for sprint pole.
Verstappen suffers setback in push for fifth title
Max Verstappen's late bid for a fifth drivers world title suffered a setback on Friday when he qualified only sixth for Saturday's sprint race at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Verstappen briefly took command in 1:10.107 but it was soon overhauled by Russell and then both Norris and Piastri.
The 28-year-old Dutchman, who said he needs four near-perfect weekends to overhaul McLaren driver Lando Norris's 36-point advantage in the title race, grumbled about the balance and handling of his Red Bull.
Norris, who won last year's sprint race in Brazil, topped the times to take pole for the sprint and, after taking a one-point lead in the title race ahead of McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri, seems to have seized the initiative again.
Piastri qualified third behind teenage rookie Kimi Antonelli in a Mercedes.
The outcome left Verstappen frustrated.
"I've got a lot of vibration in the car and a lot of ride problems," said Verstappen. "It's not what we want, but besides that we also just don't have the grip and the middle sector is terrible.
"I just can't get the car to turn, but at the same time I can't really rely on the rears. So, for us, it's quite poor," he said before adding. "But it is what it is."
Verstappen managed to split the McLarens in the final seconds, reminding them of his threat in the title race, before SQ2 began with local hero Gabriel Bortoleto leading out in his Sauber.