Oscar Piastri secured pole position for the Interlagos sprint race by beating team mate Lando Norris with his second attempt in SQ3.
Piastri improved on his second run to beat his team mate by 0.029s, while Norris abandoned his last lap due to making too many mistakes.
The two McLarens will start on the front row for Saturday’s sprint, with Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen behind them on the second row.
SQ1
After the earlier practice session took place under clear skies, clouds covered the circuit as the first phase of sprint qualifying approached. Race control confirmed a slight threat of rain as the field headed out of the pits, led by the two Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jnr.As per the regulations, all drivers had to use medium tyres for this first session. Leclerc was quickest out of the two Ferraris at first with his first lap of a 1’11.654 They were beaten comfortably by George Russell, before Oscar Piastri posted the new fastest overall time with a 1’10.265, kicking up a shower of sparks on the new track surface as he completed his lap.
Despite all 20 drivers looking to find room on the track in the closing minutes of the relatively short session, the drivers all managed to find room on the track to complete a final flying lap. Franco Colapinto had lost his only previous timed lap for exceeding track limits at Descida do Lago, meaning he had to make his final lap count. He did just that, however, jumping straight up to ninth as he took the chequered flag.
Failing to make it through into the second phase were Fernando Alonso, Esteban Ocon and Yuki Tsunoda, who claimed his lap was fine, but just had no grip with his RB. Lance Stroll was also knocked out in 19th, while Zhou Guanyu could not follow his team mate Valtteri Bottas into SQ2. As the session ended Lando Norris produced a stunningly quick lap to head the times by almost eight tenths of a second.
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SQ1 result
| P. | # | Driver | Team | Model | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | MCL38 | 1’09.477 | |
| 2 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren-Mercedes | MCL38 | 1’10.265 | 0.788 |
| 3 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams-Mercedes | FW46 | 1’10.366 | 0.889 |
| 4 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | SF-24 | 1’10.388 | 0.911 |
| 5 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull-Honda RBPT | RB20 | 1’10.392 | 0.915 |
| 6 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-Honda RBPT | RB20 | 1’10.409 | 0.932 |
| 7 | 50 | Oliver Bearman | Haas-Ferrari | VF-24 | 1’10.442 | 0.965 |
| 8 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas-Ferrari | VF-24 | 1’10.466 | 0.989 |
| 9 | 43 | Franco Colapinto | Williams-Mercedes | FW46 | 1’10.470 | 0.993 |
| 10 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | W15 | 1’10.479 | 1.002 |
| 11 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Ferrari | SF-24 | 1’10.503 | 1.026 |
| 12 | 30 | Liam Lawson | RB-Honda RBPT | 01 | 1’10.576 | 1.099 |
| 13 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | W15 | 1’10.625 | 1.148 |
| 14 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine-Renault | A524 | 1’10.630 | 1.153 |
| 15 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Sauber-Ferrari | C44 | 1’10.861 | 1.384 |
| 16 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin-Mercedes | AMR24 | 1’10.978 | 1.501 |
| 17 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine-Renault | A524 | 1’11.052 | 1.575 |
| 18 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB-Honda RBPT | 01 | 1’11.121 | 1.644 |
| 19 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin-Mercedes | AMR24 | 1’11.280 | 1.803 |
| 20 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Sauber-Ferrari | C44 | 1’12.978 | 3.501 |
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SQ2
After Norris posted a time which was comfortably the quickest of the day at the end of SQ1, the McLaren driver jumped straight to the top of the screens once again with a 1’09.063, almost half a second quicker than his team mate as well as the Ferraris or Mercedes.
It was up to the Red Bulls to try and beat Norris, but while Verstappen went second-fastest with his first attempt, even he was four tenths slower than his championship rival.
Both Haas drivers, Nico Hulkenberg and Oliver Bearman and Liam Lawson decided to make just a single run at the end of the session. That meant both Perez and Hamilton would need to improve to avoid being a risk of elimination. However, Perez missed the timing line to start his flying lap in time, meaning he was now sure to be out.
Bearman managed to comfortably go through, which came at the expense of Hamilton, who improved on his final effort but missed out on the top ten by just under a tenth. Hulkenberg could not follow his rookie team mate through and was out in 12th, with Perez 13th, Colapinto eliminated in 14th and Bottas slowest in the session.
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SQ2 result
| P. | # | Driver | Team | Model | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | MCL38 | 1’09.063 | |
| 2 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren-Mercedes | MCL38 | 1’09.239 | 0.176 |
| 3 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | SF-24 | 1’09.248 | 0.185 |
| 4 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-Honda RBPT | RB20 | 1’09.489 | 0.426 |
| 5 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Ferrari | SF-24 | 1’09.500 | 0.437 |
| 6 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine-Renault | A524 | 1’09.610 | 0.547 |
| 7 | 50 | Oliver Bearman | Haas-Ferrari | VF-24 | 1’09.629 | 0.566 |
| 8 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | W15 | 1’09.683 | 0.620 |
| 9 | 30 | Liam Lawson | RB-Honda RBPT | 01 | 1’09.827 | 0.764 |
| 10 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams-Mercedes | FW46 | 1’09.844 | 0.781 |
| 11 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | W15 | 1’09.941 | 0.878 |
| 12 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas-Ferrari | VF-24 | 1’09.964 | 0.901 |
| 13 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull-Honda RBPT | RB20 | 1’10.024 | 0.961 |
| 14 | 43 | Franco Colapinto | Williams-Mercedes | FW46 | 1’10.275 | 1.212 |
| 15 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Sauber-Ferrari | C44 | 1’10.595 | 1.532 |
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SQ3
The third and final session of sprint qualifying would be the only one where drivers received soft tyres to push at their ultimate pace.The vast majority of those still remaining in qualifying opted to remain in the garage until the end of the session, except for the McLarens who headed out early, with Norris setting the initial provisional pole time with a 1’08.928. Albon also took advantage of a clear track to post his sole lap of the session, a second slower than the McLaren.
Both McLaren drivers then joined their rivals in the closing minutes by heading out again. Norris could not improve on his used softs, but Piastri managed to do better than his first effort, snatching sprint pole away from his team mate by less than half a second.
Leclerc took third on the grid ahead of Verstappen, with Sainz fifth in the second Ferrari. Russell will be the highest starting Mercedes in sixth ahead of Pierre Gasly, Lawson, Albon and Bearman in tenth after his only SQ3 lap was deleted for exceeding track limits.
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SQ3 result
| P. | # | Driver | Team | Model | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren-Mercedes | MCL38 | 1’08.899 | |
| 2 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | MCL38 | 1’08.928 | 68.928 |
| 3 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | SF-24 | 1’09.153 | 69.153 |
| 4 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-Honda RBPT | RB20 | 1’09.219 | 69.219 |
| 5 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Ferrari | SF-24 | 1’09.257 | 69.257 |
| 6 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | W15 | 1’09.443 | 69.443 |
| 7 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine-Renault | A524 | 1’09.622 | 69.622 |
| 8 | 30 | Liam Lawson | RB-Honda RBPT | 01 | 1’09.941 | 69.941 |
| 9 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams-Mercedes | FW46 | 1’10.078 | 70.078 |
| 10 | 50 | Oliver Bearman | Haas-Ferrari | VF-24 | 0 | 0.000 |
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Ben
1st November 2024, 19:44
A clean weekend from Lawson now and surely that RedBull seat is his. Perez again struggling to make Q3 and Tsunoda miles off the pace. If this happens again tomorrow then I’m sure Perez will be given the chop.
Bearman again looking like the real deal. I can see him replacing Hamilton at Ferrari in a couple of years when Hamilton retires. Great to see the new talent coming through and showing a lot of the old guard that it’s time to perform or move on.
Mog
1st November 2024, 19:55
In a world where the narrative has unashamedly been pushing the Norris cart and actively putting down Piastri, I’m happy this happened.
sinksinksink
1st November 2024, 20:02
To be fair Piastri has underperformed the last few races, but good to see him back up there.
David
1st November 2024, 22:31
I noticed the mclaren garage wasn’t even clapping as usual….and the sky announcers did a poor job masking their disappointment. Hilarious!!
Such a sad state the world is in
anon
2nd November 2024, 7:47
Mog, I would disagree with the notion that “the narrative has unashamedly been pushing the Norris cart and actively putting down Piastri” – on the contrary, there has been quite a lot of hype being pushed around Piastri for much of this season, and it’s only really the last two races, where Piastri, by his own admission, performed badly that have seen him being criticised.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
1st November 2024, 19:58
That new chasis is working just as good as the previous one. Maybe it wasn’t that, after all…
t1redmonkey (@t1redmonkey)
1st November 2024, 20:15
I reckon this time round, Oscar will definitely play the team game and let Lando ahead of him without any drama (if of course they’re the two leading drivers).
SpaFrancorchamps (@spafrancorchamps)
2nd November 2024, 0:08
He said he will for the sprint as he promised to the team he will be supporting Norris, unless it’s for a GP win. I do hope he will play the team game on Sunday too though. Norris needs all those points.
David BR (@david-br)
1st November 2024, 21:27
Concise, to the point, I like it.
Unicron (@unicron2002)
1st November 2024, 21:46
Agreed, a point well made.
An Sionnach
2nd November 2024, 1:29
Not surprising. Max might be able to hold on in the sprint, but Sainz will want to pass him. Then he’s in no man’s land depending on George’s race pace.
Seven points for Lando and two for Max would be a good result.
Heavy rain forecast before the race, with rain for the hours to follow. Anything could happen there. Max and Lando both need to calm down and keep it on track. Rain might favour Max, but even he can go off if he pushes too much. If no rain comes I’m expecting a Lando win and no better than fifth for Max in the race. Lando will be well on course with +20 points over Max. If he jets off from the start, he may even have the gap to get that fastest lap. Might be down to a 27 point gap after the weekend, but I’m counting eggs. A wet win for Max could be the end of it all. I’m happy whoever wins, and particularly happy with how Lando has dealt with questions. He’s been fair, not flinching from saying what needs to be said without being drawn into bickering. He’s also taken a lot of pressure off himself by not blaming himself for everything all the time. Good!
Picasso 1.9D FTW (@picasso-19d-ftw)
2nd November 2024, 8:33
8 teams in the top ten speaks well of the closeness of the field – or poorly of the second drivers of some teams. A shocker for Aston though.