#F1 #Qualifying: @LandoNorris storms to #BrazilGP pole.
Lando Norris, #4, McLaren Formula 1 Team-Mercedes, MCL39, celebrates in Parc Ferme after taking pole position. Qualifying, Formula 1 MSC Cruises Grande Premio De Sao Paulo 2025, Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace, Sao Paulo, Brazil. Image credit to Sam Bloxham/LAT Images. Norris Brazil GP Pole, 2025 Brazil GP Qualifying, Brazil GP Qualifying Results, F1 Brazil Qualifying Results, Formula 1 Brazil Qualifying.
Norris Brazil GP Pole – Championship leader Lando Norris continued his stunning form to take pole position for the 15th time in his career at the Brazil GP as his McLaren team-mate and fellow title contender Oscar Piastri ended up fourth and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was the shock eliminatee in 16th. Mercedes Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc completed the top three.
In Q3, the initial flyers saw Bearman the first to register the benchmark of a 1:09.977, as Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg ended up second with a 1:10.386.
Alpine’s Pierre Gasly split Bearman and Hulkenberg as Leclerc went on provisional pole with a 1:09.899, but this was only briefly Piastri pipped the Monegasque driver with his 1:09.897 effort and a very 0.002 seconds clear.
Championship leader Norris suffered a massive lock-up into turn one on his initial hot-lap and ended up the slowest of the runners.
Mercedes’ George Russell was demoted to fifth by team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s 1:10.002 flying lap.
The final hot-laps saw Bearman remain in third as Leclerc returned to P1 with his 1:09.805 but was relegated to second by Norris’s 1:09.511 after setting two purple sectors to go 0.294 seconds clear.
Piastri was next and remained in third despite two personal bests as Isack Hadjar put his RBB up to fourth and was 0.420 seconds off Norris’s pole time.
Russell could only manage sixth on his final flyer as his team-mate Antonelli blasted to second with his 1:09.685 to make it a Norris-Antonelli front-row like in the Sprint.
Leclerc will start on the second row alongside Piastri in third and fourth respectively.
Hadjar and Russell qualified fifth and sixth in the order.
The other VCARB02 entry of Liam Lawson was seventh and Haas’s Bearman took eighth.
Alpine’s Gasly and Sauber’s Hulkenberg rounded out the top ten.
In the second qualifying stage, which was topped by Norris, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso missed out on a Q3 appearance by a slim 0.016 seconds with the double world champion qualifying 11th on the grid.
Williams Racing’s Alexander Albon ended up 12th and in-front of Ferrari’s Sir Lewis Hamilton who posted two personal bests and was unable to improve in the final sector to wound up 13th.
The other Aston Martin AMR25 entry of Lance Stroll and Williams of Carlos Sainz were the slowest of the Q2 runners in 14th and 15th respectively.
In the opening segment, which was topped by Norris, saw championship contender Max Verstappen shockingly eliminated from Q1 and missing out on the second qualifying stage by 0.066 seconds meaning the Red Bull driver will start 16th on the grid.
MoneyGram Haas F1 Team’s Esteban Ocon took 17th and ahead of Alpine’s Franco Colapinto who improved to 18th on his flyer.
The other RB21 entry of Yuki Tsunoda was a low-19th to complete a Red Bull double elimination as home favourite Gabriel Bortoleto brought up the rear for Sauber and was unable to set a lap-time due to his C45 entry being rebuilt after his heavy crash in the Sprint.
You can see the full Formula 1 MSC Cruises Grande Premio De Sao Paulo 2025 Qualifying Results Classification at the link: FORMULA 1 MSC CRUISES GRANDE PRÊMIO DE SÃO PAULO 2025 – QUALIFYING
2025 Brazil GP Qualifying – The Top Three
2025 Brazil GP Pole Position – Lando Norris, #4, McLaren Formula 1 Team, Mercedes, MCL39 – 1:09.511:
“”Again, tough out there with the conditions – it was slippery, inconsistent but good fun. It is always a pleasure around this track. I was under pressure having lost my first lap, but I stayed calm and put it all together so I’m happy. The others are doing a good job, but when I’m in a good rhythm, I can put it on top.”
2nd Place – Andrea Kimi Antonelli, #12, Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team, F1 W16 – 1:09.685:
“To be fair I’m a bit annoyed I’m again behind him. It was tricky with the wind to put a lap together, so happy with that, to be starting P2 tomorrow.”
3rd Place –Charles Leclerc, #16, Scuderia Ferrari, SF-25 – 1:09.805:
“Everything is so close, it goes from being a disaster of a weekend to a good weekend in a matter of a few hundredths. P3, I am satisfied with that as it has been a difficult weekend for us.”
