Lando Norris fired the first warning shot towards Max Verstappen in the shoot-out for the sprint race of the GP São Paulo. Although the Brit finishes second behind teammate Oscar Piastri, the margin with the reigning world champion is substantial.
Two weeks after the previous sprint weekend in Austin, which, like the first three sessions of this year, was won by Max Verstappen, the next round in this challenging format (with mandatory tyre types) is on the agenda. The teams only had an hour of training on Friday to prepare for both the shoot-out, the sprint number, the qualification, and the regular Sunday race. In VT1, which was first closed by Lando Norris, no one really showed their cards. As usual, the collection of data for the ideal car setup is leading in this.
The opening session of twelve minutes results in top activity on the track from the first second. Lando Norris sets the tone, again. And how! The British challenger to Max Verstappen is almost a second faster than McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri. Sergio Pérez, who finished last in the race a week earlier in Mexico, ends up ahead of colleague Max Verstappen (sixth). Notably, Alex Albon qualifies third for the next round. The first dropouts are Fernando Alonso, Esteban Ocon, Yuki Tsunoda Lance Stroll, and Guanyu Zhou.
Norris’s dominance is no fluke. He remains unmatched in SQ2, as Max Verstappen discovers. The current leader in the world championship, with a 47-point lead over his British rival and four GPs (including two sprint races) remaining, can’t come close to Norris’s time. He has to concede almost half a second, Piastri nearly two-tenths. The Autódromo José Carlos Pace seems particularly kind to McLaren’s MCL38. Surprising dropouts in the second segment include Lewis Hamilton (11th) and Sergio Pérez (13th), who is driving an older chassis in São Paulo and again falls short early. Nico Hülkenberg, Franco Colapinto, and Valtteri Bottas follow the two veterans out.
In the final session, Norris confirms that he will continue his pursuit of Verstappen at full speed in São Paulo. Even on the mandatory softest tire, he is much faster and smells blood. However, it’s not him who will start from pole on Saturday afternoon, but colleague Oscar Piastri. The Australian squeezes out a flawless lap in the final phase, temporarily overshadowing his teammate. Charles Leclerc finishes third. The burning question for tomorrow’s sprint race: will Piastri yield to Norris if the situation calls for it?
