Norris takes sprint pole in sunny Sao Paulo while Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon have a confusing crash in the final minutes of SQ1.
Taking his first sprint pole, Lando Norris will start the sprint race in pole position followed by Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.
Upset he didn’t show a stronger result in the rain-soaked qualifying session on Friday, Norris proved he was correct in suggesting he was quick enough for pole.
Out the car, Norris didn’t seem elated by the result although, believing it was one of his weaker laps.
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Norris is due to see the stewards after a pitlane incident, released into the path of Charles Leclerc.
While, Norris once again displayed the impressive pace of the McLaren, his teammate Oscar Piastri will start tenth.
Both Mercedes drivers will start behind the top three with George Russell beating his teammate to 4th. Lewis Hamilton will start fifth, the same position he is due to start Sunday’s race.
Alpha Tauri also showed strong pace after a poor day in yesterday’s qualifying. Yuki Tsunoda will start sixth in the sprint race after scraping through both SQ1 and SQ2, while his teammate Daniel Ricciardo will start ninth.
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However, despite their return to form in yesterday’s qualifying, Aston Martin struggled on the dry track.
Lance Stroll, who will start third on Sunday, was eliminated in SQ1 to start 17th, while his teammate Fernando Alonso had a dramatic collision with Esteban Ocon into turn 3.
The Frenchman seemed to blame the Spaniard for the incident, however lost control of the car moments before the collision.
Alonso did not rejoin the shootout and will start 15th in the sprint later this afternoon.
The session was red flagged and Ocon will start 16th in the sprint ahead of Stroll, Zhou Guanyu and both Williams.
Both Williams’ were unable to finish their final lap due to the red flag while Yuki Tsunoda was lucky to scrape through, setting a time just before the red flag.
Another team that suffered was Ferrari who showed early pace this weekend. While Charles Leclerc will start second on Sunday, he couldn’t do better than seventh in the sprint shootout.
His teammate, Carlos Sainz, was unable to do better and will start ninth behind Daniel Ricciardo’s Alpha Tauri.
Haas were also unfortunate not to make into SQ3. Kevin Magnussen will start ahead of his teammate Nico Hulkenberg in 11th and 12th respectively.
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