F1 Sprint Qualifying Brazilian GP 2024 – McLaren dominate the Sprint Race shoot-out with Oscar Piastri capturing his first-ever pole and teammate Lando Norris narrowly behind. The session was filled with strategy shifts, unexpected penalties, and a looming rain threat that kept drivers and teams on edge.
SQ1: Ferrari, McLaren, and an Unpredictable Track
Ferrari arrived as the team to beat, coming off consecutive victories. But McLaren quickly made their intentions clear, with Lando Norris topping FP1 thanks to an effective setup and a new rear wing. The resurfaced track proved challenging, though—its persistent bumps made visibility difficult and contributed to physical discomfort for drivers. Mercedes’ George Russell voiced frustrations, calling the brakes “very poor,” an issue that could affect his performance throughout the weekend.
As SQ1 drew to a close, Norris claimed the top spot with an impressive 1:09.477. This time absolutely smashed the fastest time set in qualifying last year which was 1:10:06. Norris’ closest competitor was his teammate Ocar Piastri who was a full 0.710 seconds behind him.
Ferrari chose a different strategy with neither of their drivers pitting instead choosing top stay out and continue putting in laps.
The first qualifying session closed with a McLaren 1-2 and Alex Albon 8 tenths behind the leading driver of Lando Norris. Norris is evidently capitalising off a bad weekend for Max Verstappen and in turn hoping to close the fight in the Drivers championship.
It was a disappointing session for Aston Martin, as both Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll faced early elimination, exiting in 16th and 19th positions despite a car spec revert to Suzuka setup. They will need to have a strong sprint performance to score points this weekend.
SQ1 Eliminations: Alonso, Ocon, Tsunoda, Stroll, Zhou
SQ3: Piastri’s First Pole as McLaren Dominate
With darkening skies, drivers faced an increasing likelihood of rain in SQ2, especially near Turn 4. Norris continued his rapid pace, posting a rapid 1:09.063—outshining last year’s best lap time. Piastri trailed by 0.176 seconds, while Charles Leclerc came in close at 0.185 seconds behind Norris. Verstappen, carrying a five-place grid penalty, managed a lap 0.426 seconds off Norris’ time but voiced frustration with his car’s wing setting, which he felt limited the car’s turning ability.
SQ2 saw some big names exit the session with Sergio Perez unable to get another flying lap in, due to being slow on his out lap. In turn, failing to cross the line before the chequered flag was flown, leaving him behind his teammate as well as RB rookie Liam Lawson. The Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton also proved to be difficult to manage as he was eliminated in P11.
The home-boy hero, Franco Colapinto unfortunately was also out in SQ2, he will start the Sprint race down 14th.
SQ2 Eliminations: Hamilton, Hülkenberg, Perez, Colapinto, Bottas
SQ3: Piastri’s First Pole as McLaren Dominate
In SQ3, rain held off but track conditions remained tricky, with temperatures dropping by 20 degrees from FP1. Norris was first to strike, posting a stunning 1:08.928 as McLaren and Williams took an aggressive approach, sending their drivers out immediately to avoid potential disruptions. Norris’ times had been quick all session, and he looked certain to claim pole position.
Piastri struggled in his first timed lap of SQ3. The Aussie managed to set a 1:09:225 despite his issues. With limited threat of a yellow or red flagged session, this meant Piastri could set another lap and steal pole position away from his teammate.
That is exactly what Piastri did. With less than 2 minutes remaining in the session, Piastri managed to set a 1:08.899, 2 hundreths faster than his teammate who finished in the shoot out in 2nd. A McLaren 1-2 was followed by Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari a mere 2 tenths behind the pair.
There was disappointment for Ollie Bearman, replacing Kevin Magnussen for the session. After making a mistake on his lap, he saw his time deleted for exceeding track limits, relegating him to a P10 start. However, despite this, Bearman still out-qualified his teammate Nico Hulkenberg. Verstappen, despite his earlier struggles, secured a row two start alongside Leclerc, setting up an intense sprint showdown.
Sprint Race Top 3:
- Oscar Piastri (McLaren) – 1:08.899
- Lando Norris (McLaren) +0.029
- Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.254
With a resilient McLaren lineup and the ever-present rain threat, the stage is set for a thrilling Sprint race where anything can happen.
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F1 Sprint Qualifying | Brazilian GP 2024