Formula 1 News: Norris wins pole for Sao Paulo GP Sprint Race

Driving the superior #4 McLaren, F1 point leader Lando Norris (pictured) turned a lap of 1m09.243s to win the pole for the 2025 Sao Paulo GP Sprint Race at Interlagos.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

“It was a little bit tougher than I would have liked, close between lots of cars – Mercedes were quick on the softs. But we did the job we needed to do,” said Norris.

“Quali around here is tricky – but it is fun, it always puts a smile on your face.”

He was on pole for the Grand Prix here last year, and he takes his first Sprint pole of the season. He was very fast in the middle sector that contains all the tight corners where McLaren is superior.

Kimi Antonelli was a surprise 2nd fastest for Mercedes, just 0.097s behind Norris.

Oscar Piastri was third in the 2nd superior McLaren, 0.185s behind Norris his teammate.

George Russell was 4th in the #63 Mercedes, 0.252s behind Norris.

Fernando Alonso, who was fastest in SQ2, rounded out the top-5 for Aston Martin.

Max Verstappen could only manage 6th in the inferior Red Bull, 0.337s behind Norris and this pretty much means his run for the 2025 F1 driving title is essentially over, as the onboard cameras pick up the Dutchman shaking his head in disqust. The car is so bad, his teammate Yuki Tsunoda could only manage 18th and was out in SQ1.

Norris has pole, and is best placed to bag eight points tomorrow. Piastri led last year’s Sprint from pole.

Speaking of the Australian, he starts right behind his teammate. Can he get a slipstream on the relatively short run down to Turn 1?

Antonelli is sandwiched between those two with nothing to lose.

Both Ferrari drivers are struggling with Hamilton spinning in practice and Leclerc spinning in qualifying. Leclerc is under investigation for impeding Lance Stroll.

Rain and high winds are forecast for Saturday, so that can mix things up, but Norris will be out front with no spray to deal with.

2025 Sao Paulo GP Sprint Race Qualifying Results

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Laps
1	4	Lando Norris	McLaren	1:09.627	1:09.373	1:09.243	20
2	12	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	1:10.381	1:09.504	1:09.340	16
3	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	1:10.017	1:09.416	1:09.428	19
4	63	George Russell	Mercedes	1:10.048	1:09.384	1:09.495	16
5	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	1:10.011	1:09.330	1:09.496	12
6	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	1:09.975	1:09.707	1:09.580	15
7	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	1:10.326	1:09.647	1:09.671	15
8	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:10.324	1:09.732	1:09.725	19
9	6	Isack Hadjar	Racing Bulls	1:10.095	1:09.608	1:09.775	15
10	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Kick Sauber	1:10.333	1:09.735	1:09.935	15
11	44	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	1:10.224	1:09.811	–	14
12	23	Alexander Albon	Williams	1:10.275	1:09.813	–	12
13	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	1:10.097	1:09.852	–	12
14	5	Gabriel Bortoleto	Kick Sauber	1:10.217	1:09.923	–	12
15	87	Oliver Bearman	Haas F1 Team	1:10.066	1:09.946	–	12
16	43	Franco Colapinto	Alpine	1:10.441	–	–	6
17	30	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	1:10.666	–	–	5
18	22	Yuki Tsunoda	Red Bull Racing	1:10.692	–	–	6
19	31	Esteban Ocon	Haas F1 Team	1:10.872	–	–	6
20	55	Carlos Sainz	Williams	1:11.120	–	–	6