Lando takes Pole as rivals struggle in Brazil Conditions

By Mark Gero

Lando Norris continued his domination of this weekend’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix by taking pole on Saturday afternoon with a time of 1:09:511, ahead of Mercedes Kimi Antonelli, in what looked like a recreation of the earlier sprint qualifying session result hours before. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was third.

Norris was down in tenth with only minutes to go, but the Briton continued his success by setting the top time just minutes before the end of qualifying.

“Tough out there with the conditions.” He said. “Just slippery, inconsistent but good fun. It’s always a pleasure around this track. I felt good.

I was under a bit of pressure because I messed up on my first lap – so more stressful than I would’ve liked. But stayed calm when it mattered and put it altogether, so happy.

We’ve been on very good form. The team have given me a great car, so I’ve always got to thank them. I didn’t make it easy for them or for myself. I’m still having to push. Locking up at Turn One, it just puts unnecessary pressure on myself. And the others are doing a good job.

I think when I’m in a good rhythm, when I can stay calm, put it all together, I’ll be on top.”

Oscar Piastri improved from his earlier crash during the morning’s sprint race but could not get close to his teammate and series rival as the Australian placed fourth ahead of Racing Bulls Isack Hadjar, who set a top time just seconds from the session’s end. George Russell could not get a good lap and had to settle for sixth in his Mercedes. Laim Lawson was another driver who set a last second top lap, but the others dropped him to seventh. Haas F1’s Oliver Bearman was the big surprise of the session, but the Briton could not get a good lap in enough and had to settle for eighth.

Pierre Gasly put his Alpine in the top Ten for the first time in a while by taking ninth, with Nico Hulkenberg, another driver who has not made it into the final session of qualifying in many races, finished tenth in the Sauber.

But the biggest shock came in the opening session, when Red Bull’s Max Verstappen failed to get out of qualifying and will start the race in 16^th, while home hero Gabriel Borteletto, who had a fierce crash in the earlier sprint race, managed to get in the car following his mechanics working on the damage that was completed. But ran out of time to get to the track and never took part in qualifying. Lewis Hamilton was another driver to failed to reach the final session, being knocked out of the second period.

Norris will have a chance to improve on his nine-point lead over Piastri, but Sunday’s race could mean anything, depending on how the conditions are.