Lando Norris ahead of everyone in sprint qualifying at Interlagos

Lando Norris ahead of everyone in Interlagos sprint qualifying

Britain’s Lando Norris took pole position for the sprint race of tonight’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix at the Interlagos circuit. In mini-qualifying, the McLaren driver beat the two Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez by 61 and 134 thousandths, seventh and ninth the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.

In SQ1 Esteban Ocon with his Alpine goes to hit Fernando Alonso sideways who is proceeding slowly while the Frenchman è instead in full speed, the transalpine goes to crash into the protections and the Asturian continues but the session is interrupted with the red flag with about 30 seconds to go. Ocon himself, Lance Stroll on the’other Aston Martin, Guanyu Zhou on the’Alfa Romeo-Sauber and Alexander Albon and Logan Sargeant on the Williams are eliminated.

One has to wait more than twenty minutes until SQ2 begins, at the end of which, along with Alonso who has a damaged car and cannot resume qualifying, Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg in the Haas, Pierre Gasly in the second Alpine and Valtteri Botas in the second Alfa-Sauber are eliminated.

Only one attempt for everyone in SQ3 and Norris takes off the best time that will make him start on pole later in the sprint ahead of Verstappen, in the second row Perez flanked by the first Mercedes, that of George Russell, in third Lewis Hamilton with the second Mercedes and Yuki Tsunoda with the Alpha Tauri, in fourth Leclerc and Daniel Ricciardo with the other Alpha Tauri, in fifth Sainz and Oscar Piastri with the second McLaren.

Obviously, the grid positions are subject to possible changes by race management due to the numerous investigations that, for a change, it is performing concerning the behavior of the drivers.