Oscar Piastri has surged to an impressive pole position for the Sprint at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, the McLaren driver beating team mate Lando Norris in the final moments to take the accolade by just two hundredths of a second.
Norris had led the way throughout SQ1 and SQ2, setting the pace by some way from his rivals. The Briton again looked to be on provisional pole following the opening runs of SQ3 – but Piastri pipped him to P1 by setting a lap of 1m 08.899s, putting him only 0.029s clear of Norris.
Charles Leclerc slotted his Ferrari in third, ahead of Max Verstappen – who will be hoping to continue his consecutive run of Sprint victories – in fourth for Red Bull while Carlos Sainz was fifth in the Scuderia’s other car.
George Russell took P6 for Mercedes, with Pierre Gasly a solid P7 in the Alpine and Liam Lawson P8 for RB. Williams’ Alex Albon also had a good outing by taking P9, while Haas substitute Ollie Bearman rounded out the top 10, the youngster not setting a time in SQ3 after his lap was deleted due to track limits.
FORMULA 1 LENOVO GRANDE PRÊMIO DE SÃO PAULO 2024 – Sprint Qualifying results
|
POS |
NO |
DRIVER |
CAR |
Q1 |
Q2 |
Q3 |
LAPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
81 |
Oscar Piastri |
McLaren Mercedes |
1:10.265 |
1:09.239 |
1:08.899 |
16 |
|
2 |
4 |
Lando Norris |
McLaren Mercedes |
1:09.477 |
1:09.063 |
1:08.928 |
14 |
|
3 |
16 |
Charles Leclerc |
Ferrari |
1:10.388 |
1:09.248 |
1:09.153 |
18 |
|
4 |
1 |
Max Verstappen |
Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT |
1:10.409 |
1:09.489 |
1:09.219 |
12 |
|
5 |
55 |
Carlos Sainz |
Ferrari |
1:10.503 |
1:09.500 |
1:09.257 |
15 |
|
6 |
63 |
George Russell |
Mercedes |
1:10.479 |
1:09.683 |
1:09.443 |
15 |
|
7 |
10 |
Pierre Gasly |
Alpine Renault |
1:10.630 |
1:09.610 |
1:09.622 |
15 |
|
8 |
30 |
Liam Lawson |
RB Honda RBPT |
1:10.576 |
1:09.827 |
1:09.941 |
11 |
|
9 |
23 |
Alexander Albon |
Williams Mercedes |
1:10.366 |
1:09.844 |
1:10.078 |
12 |
|
10 |
50 |
Oliver Bearman |
Haas Ferrari |
1:10.442 |
1:09.629 |
DNF |
12 |
|
11 |
44 |
Lewis Hamilton |
Mercedes |
1:10.625 |
1:09.941 |
|
13 |
|
12 |
27 |
Nico Hulkenberg |
Haas Ferrari |
1:10.466 |
1:09.964 |
|
8 |
|
13 |
11 |
Sergio Perez |
Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT |
1:10.392 |
1:10.024 |
|
10 |
|
14 |
43 |
Franco Colapinto |
Williams Mercedes |
1:10.470 |
1:10.275 |
|
9 |
|
15 |
77 |
Valtteri Bottas |
Kick Sauber Ferrari |
1:10.861 |
1:10.595 |
|
12 |
|
16 |
14 |
Fernando Alonso |
Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes |
1:10.978 |
|
|
6 |
|
17 |
31 |
Esteban Ocon |
Alpine Renault |
1:11.052 |
|
|
6 |
|
18 |
22 |
Yuki Tsunoda |
RB Honda RBPT |
1:11.121 |
|
|
6 |
|
19 |
18 |
Lance Stroll |
Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes |
1:11.280 |
|
|
6 |
|
20 |
24 |
Zhou Guanyu |
Kick Sauber Ferrari |
1:12.978 |
|
|
5 |
SQ2 saw some big-name casualties as Lewis Hamilton failed to make the cut, the Mercedes man ending the session in P11, while Sergio Perez also exited in P13, with the Red Bull driver having ran out of time to set his final flying lap.
Haas’s Nico Hulkenberg qualified in 12th, and joining him in leaving Sprint Qualifying prior to the final segment were Franco Colapinto for Williams in 14th and Kick Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas in 15th.
There was double disappointment for Aston Martin in SQ1, with Fernando Alonso being pushed down to P16 while team mate Lance Stroll was also knocked out in P19.
The other names making an early exit were Alpine’s Esteban Ocon in 17th, RB’s Yuki Tsunoda in 18th and the Kick Sauber of Zhou Guanyu down in 20th place.
Formula 1 Media | Photo: Formula 1
