Lando Norris continues to put pressure on Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen. Friday, during qualifying for the sprint race of the Brazilian Grand Prix, the new leader of the world championship beat his two opponents for the title and is full of confidence for the rest of the weekend.
Already the fastest in the only free practice session on Friday noon, when he stole first place from his Australian teammate at the last minute, the Briton did it again in the afternoon by taking pole position for the sprint scheduled for Saturday morning on the legendary Interlagos circuit. “It’s a good start to the weekend. The team worked well to put me in the best conditions and a few good laps allowed me to secure pole. There is still work to be done for Saturday but we are in a good position,” he said.
Especially since the Italian rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) came to intervene between the two McLaren drivers and will be one of the referees of the fratricidal duel between the orange cars on Saturday during the sprint. “3rd place is a decent result. The car was a little temperamental during qualifying, but I still felt better than in recent weeks. There are still details to be resolved but I am satisfied,” said Piastri.
Norris, who regained the lead of the championship by a small point after his victory in Mexico two weeks ago, a first since April, continues to dominate his Australian teammate. The latter, who had a 34-point lead at the end of August after the Englishman’s abandonment in the Netherlands, lost his effectiveness at the worst time, in the home stretch of the championship. However, with just one point behind, anything is still possible.
Chaotic weather forecast
Verstappen (Red Bull), returned against all odds to the title race after his successes in Italy, Azerbaijan and the United States, stalled in Mexico and was in difficulty again on Friday. Only 17th in free practice, the reigning quadruple world champion then had to settle for 6th place during sprint qualifying. Relegated to 36 points behind Norris, he could well see this gap widen on Saturday at the end of the first race of the weekend (8 points for the winner in sprint format, 25 points in Grand Prix).
However, the expected rain at Interlagos could give a boost to the Dutchman, who is very comfortable in these conditions like his incredible success on the Paulista track last year during the Grand Prix when he started 17th.
The weather conditions could be so chaotic that the holding of the sprint race is even threatened. The Brazilian National Institute of Meteorology has in fact issued an alert because “an extra-tropical cyclone is expected to form in southern Brazil on Friday evening” and affect Sao Paulo on Saturday morning, citing “risks of falling trees and flooding”.
Ferrari struggling
Ferrari also had a complicated day on Friday in Sao Paulo. The Scuderia, which had raised its head in Austin and Mexico with Charles Leclerc’s two podiums, got off to a bad start to its weekend. The Monegasque had to settle for 8th place on the sprint grid, while seven-time British world champion Lewis Hamilton, darling of the Brazilian public, will only start in 11th place.
The two other most supported drivers at Interlagos, the Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber) and the Argentinian Franco Colapinto, who was extended on Friday by Alpine for the 2026 season, finished 14th and 16th respectively.
On the French side, Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls), still favorite to become Verstappen’s teammate next year at Red Bull, reached Q3 again and finally set the 9th time. Pierre Gasly limited the damage by taking 13th place at the wheel of an Alpine single-seater still performing poorly, while Esteban Ocon (Haas) missed his qualifying by finishing 19th and penultimate.
