Brazil GP Sprint Shootout: Norris pips Verstappen to pole.

Norris Brazil Sprint Pole – McLaren’s Lando Norris pipped Red Bull’s Max Verstappen by a very narrow 0.061 seconds to take pole position for the F1 Sprint at the Brazil GP as the second RB19 of Sergio Perez completed the top three.

Lando Norris, #4, McLaren Formula 1 Team-Mercedes, MCL60, Sprint Shootout, Formula 1 Rolex Grande Premio De Sao Paulo 2023, Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace (Interlagos), Sao Paulo, Brazil. Image credit to Mark Thompson/Getty Images. Norris Brazil Sprint Pole, Sao Paulo GP Sprint Shootout Results, Lando Norris Sprint Pole, F1 Sao Paulo GP Sprint Shootout Results, Sao Paulo Grand Prix Sprint Shootout Results.

In SQ3, all drivers save their set of softs just for one sole flying lap as Norris set a purple sector two and three to post the benchmark of a 1:10.622 and in-front of Verstappen as Perez was a further 0.134 adrift of the Briton in third.

The two Mercedes F1 W14 entries followed as George Russell jumped to fourth and ahead of team-mate Sir Lewis Hamilton who took fifth.

AlphaTauri duo Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo will start the F1 Sprint in sixth and eighth respectively as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc slotted in-between the AT04 racers.

The second Ferrari SF-23 of Carlos Sainz and McLaren MCL60 of Oscar Piastri rounded out the top ten.

In the second Sprint Shootout stage, which was topped by Norris, Haas F1 Team’s Kevin Magnussen missed out on an SQ3 appearance by a slim 0.051 seconds and will start the Sprint in 11^th place alongside his team-mate Nico Hulkenberg who was 12^th.

Alpine F1 Team’s Pierre Gasly placed 13^th in the order and in-front of Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso who were 14^th and 15^th respectively.

Alonso was unable to take part in the session due to sustaining damage in an incident involving Alpine’s Esteban Ocon at the end of SQ1.

In the opening segment, which was topped by Sainz, a red flag prematurely ended the session with 33 seconds left on the clock after Ocon made contact with Alonso at turn three sending the former into the barrier.

Replays showed Ocon on a hot lap, whilst Alonso was on a cool down tour with the latter well wide and off the racing line and jinked the tiniest bit left as the Frenchman barrelled down the inside.

Also, the onboard camera showed Ocon get onto the kerbs and was slightly out of shape and lost the rear just as he came up to dive down the inside of the Spaniard and hit the front left of Alonso’s AMR23 racer before spinning off into the turn three barrier.

This gave Alonso front left, a puncture and possible floor damage with the double world champion able to slowly return back to the garage for repairs.

The incident is currently under investigation by the race stewards.

Meanwhile as a result of the incident, this meant the aforementioned Ocon was eliminated in 16^th and ahead of the second Aston Martin of Lance Stroll who settled for 17^th and Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu who ended up 18^th.

The two Williams Racing FW45 entries of Alexander Albon and Logan Sargeant will start the F1 Sprint at the rear.

You can see the full Formula 1 Rolex Grande Premio De Sao Paulo 2023 Sprint Shootout Results Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2023/races/1224/brazil/sprint-shootout.html

2023 Brazil GP Sprint Shootout Pole Position – Lando Norris, McLaren Formula 1 Team-Mercedes, MCL60, 1:10.622:

“A great day, but honestly it felt like one of the worst laps I’ve done so it’s a surprise. My first pole in a long time so I’m happy. The pave has been good all weekend, the car has been strong. It’s a tough one, the Bulls are always quick, Max is very quick. I’ll give it my all.”

#BrazilGP Qualifying: @Max33Verstappen scores pole before storm hits Interlagos. #F1 #SaoPauloGP

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