The championship is heading towards its final stages and is looking towards the English title; Verstappen sees his title chances slipping away after poor training and finishing in 16th place
He set the fastest lap in qualifying this Saturday (8), with a time of 1:09.511 and will start in first place in the Brazilian Grand Prix. With 8 points already scored in the Sprint race, the Englishman opened a 9-point lead over second place, Oscar Piastri, his teammate in , who will start from third place. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen sees his title hopes becoming more distant with 39 points behind the leader and a disastrous 16th place at the start on Sunday. Kimi Antonelli repeats the Sprint classification and starts in second place, followed by .
In the constructors’ championship, despite McLaren’s already guaranteed title, Mercedes and Ferrari are fighting fiercely for second place. The German team took second place in the Sprint race, but is only six points ahead. Everything is still open, however, with the terrible placement of Lewis Hamilton, who was in 13th place, the team could open up an advantage over the Italians. With Antonelli starting in second place and George Russell in sixth, Mercedes has everything it takes to have a positive result in Brazil.
Q1
In the first 18 minutes of qualifying, the expectation was to see if Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto would be able to do some fast laps, as he had destroyed his car on the last lap of the Sprint race. Miraculously, the mechanics managed to assemble Sauber number 5 for the home star, but they didn’t send him to the track. His teammate, Nico Hulkenberg, despite also having crashed earlier, managed to set a time good enough to go to Q2, at the limit, in 15th position.
The big disappointment was Max Verstappen, who didn’t get a good lap and was in 16th place. The four-time world champion was angry with the team and complained a lot about the car. Highlight for Pierre Gasly achieving a good second place. Lando Norris, on soft tires, took first place with a time of 1:09.656. Yuki Tsunoda, Franco Colapinto, Estaban Ocon, Max Verstappen, and Bortoleto, who started last, were left behind.
Q2
In Q2, a curious case. Both Racing Bulls cars were present, with Lian Lawson and Isack Hadjar, but the one from their parent team Red Bull was not. George Russell complained about the grip of his Mercedes, despite maintaining fourth place during this phase. Norris, again, very focused, recorded the best time of 1:09.616.
Lewis Hamilton was unable to put together a good lap and ended up in 13th place, which could greatly harm Ferrari’s fight for second place in the constructors’ championship. Carlos Sainz, Lance Stroll, Lewis Hamilton, Alexander Albon and Fernando Alonso leave. Nico Hulkenberg again passed the cut line, with the tenth time.
Q3
Oscar Piastri scored the first good result of Q3, taking the lead momentarily and hoping to have the advantage for Sunday’s race. A victory for Norris could open up a lead that would lead to the Englishman winning the drivers’ championship. But there was no way, Norris had an impeccable weekend and took pole with a time of 1:09.511. Leclerc had the important mission of starting in front of the Mercedes to continue fighting in the constructors’ championship, but it didn’t happen. Kimi Antonelli stole second place from him.
See the final classification:
1st – Lando Norris – 1:09.511
2º – Kimi Antonelli – +0.174
3rd – Charles Leclerc – +0.294
4th – Oscar Piastri – +0.375
5º – Isack Hadjar – +0.420
6º – George Russell – +0.431
7º – Liam Lawson – +0.451
8th – Oliver Bearman – +0.466
9º – Pierre Gasly – +0.491
10º – Nico Hulkenberg – +0.528
11th – Fernando Alonso
12th – Alexander Albon
13º – Lewis Hamilton
14º – Lance Stroll
15th – Carlos Sainz
16º – Max Verstappen
17th – Esteban Ocon
18th – Franco Colapinto
19º – Yuki Tsunoda
20th – Gabriel Bortoleto
