Liam Lawson's Racing Bulls car. Photo: photosport
Liam Lawson has unfurled one of his best qualifying drives of the Formula One season and will start seventh on the grid for the São Paulo Grand Prix on Monday morning (NZT).
Two hours after placing in the sprint race at the Interlagos circuit, Lawson produced a fine drive but conceded it could have been even better.
"We lost a little bit of time in the lap and that's definitely cost us a few positions, but when it's this close in these kinds of conditions, I think everybody's got that story. It's a decent place for tomorrow," Lawson said.
"Trying to score points, that's the target. Both cars in Q3 obviously which puts us in a good position, so we'll definitely give it a good shot."
Team-mate Isack Hadjer was fifth quickest in a fine return for their Racing Bulls team.
It wasn't as pretty for stablemates Red Bull, with Max Verstappen (16th) and Yuki Tsunoda (19th) both eliminated in the first qualifying session.
Norris seizes pole
McLaren's championship leader Lando Norris seized the moment as his title rivals stumbled to put himself on course for a big leap in the championship battle, Reuters reported
After winning the São Paulo sprint to go nine points clear of teammate Oscar Piastri - who crashed - the Briton got back on track to seize a brilliant pole position for the main race.
McLaren team-mates Oscar Piastri (L) and Lando Norris. Photo: photosport
Australian Piastri, his closest rival, qualified fourth.
Red Bull's reigning champion Verstappen, third overall in the standings but now 39 points behind, recorded his his worst qualifying position in nearly four years.
Mercedes' 19-year-old Italian rookie Kimi Antonelli joined Norris on the front row with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc qualifying third.
"I think it's going to be a big challenge tomorrow. We have to see what the weather is going to do again," said Norris.
"So far this weekend has been clean, so I'm hoping they (Antonelli and Leclerc) don't ruin it."
Piastri had been on provisional pole following the first flying laps in the final phase of qualifying, with Norris only 10th after locking up into turn one.
With the pressure all on him, and one lap to pull something out of the bag, Norris produced the perfect response to go top with a lap of one minute 09.511 seconds.
Antonelli was 0.174 slower, pushing Leclerc and Piastri down the order.
"A bit disappointing with the result but the car has looked quick this weekend, especially over a longer run, so hopefully I can take advantage of that tomorrow," said Piastri.
Verstappen won from 17th on the grid at Interlagos last year but his comments suggested a repeat was unlikely.
It was the four-times world champion's first failure to get through Q1 on performance since the 2021 Russian Grand Prix in Sochi.
"I have no grip. Zero," the Dutch driver complained over the team radio.
"It was just bad. I couldn't push at all. The car was all over the place, sliding around a lot. I had to under-drive it a lot just to not have a moment. That of course doesn't work in qualifying," he said later.
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen. Photo: photosport
Ferrari's seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton caused another shock when he went out in the second phase, qualifying 13th and struggling for rear grip. (Writing by Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
Sprint race
Piastri crashed out of the sprint race in a big blow to the Australian's bid to get back on top.
He and Norris had started the day, in tricky conditions and a drying track at Interlagos, separated by a single point with Norris on pole position and Piastri third on the grid.
The 24-year-old Piastri's hopes disappeared on lap six of 24, another huge moment in a championship of fine margins, when he lost control on the wet kerb at turn three.
The McLaren spun into the barriers, closely followed off by Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Alpine's Franco Colapinto.
The race was then halted on lap eight after the safety car was deployed, resuming with a rolling start after barrier repairs and Norris leading the field to the flag with Mercedes's Kimi Antonelli and George Russell in his slipstream.
Antonelli threatened to get past Norris, closing the gap to less than a second on medium tyres to the Briton's softs, but had to settle for second when Sauber's home hero Gabriel Bortoleto crashed heavily at the start of the final lap, triggering double yellow warning flags.
The Brazilian, whose car went airborne and careered into the walls on both sides of the track in a scary crash, reported over the radio that he was unhurt.
He was taken to the medical centre and released, then he ran down the pitlane to the Sauber garage.
Antonelli took the chequered flag 0.845 behind Norris, with Russell third and Mercedes regaining second place overall from Ferrari.
- Reuters, with additional reporting by RNZ
