Brazil GP: Norris seizes pole as Verstappen suffers major blow with shock Q1 exit

McLaren driver Lando Norris continued his impressive form by setting pole position for the 2025 Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos.

Norris recovered from a mistake on his opening lap of Q3 to clock a fastest time of 1:09.511, outpacing Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli by 0.174 seconds. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc will start third with Norris’s McLaren teammate and F1 2025 title rival Oscar Piastri in fourth. Meanwhile, Max Verstappen suffered a blow to his title hopes as he and Red Bull teammate Yuki Tsunoda both fell in Q1.

Brazilian Grand Prix 2025: Q1

The start of qualifying was delayed by five minutes due to barrier repairs at Turns 10 and 11 following an incident in a support race at Interlagos.

The postponement came as a welcome boost to Bortoleto as repairs continued on his Sauber following a 91G double impact in the sprint race earlier in the day.

The Williams cars of Sainz and Albon were sent to the end of the pit lane ahead of the delayed start time, positioning themselves at the front of the queue four minutes early.

Partly cloudy conditions greeted the drivers when the session got underway at 1505 local time.

Sainz and Albon returned to the pits at the end of their outlaps, seemingly putting their set of tyres through a heat cycle for use later on.

Piastri, fresh from his accident in the sprint, locked up heavily into Turn 1 on his first flying lap, leaving him faster only than Colapinto and the sidelined Bortoleto in the early stages.

Hamilton also ran wide at Turn 1 as Lando Norris took top spot.

Hamilton produced two purple sectors to go fastest on his next run, going 0.171s clear of Norris at that stage.

Antonelli and Bearman lowered the benchmark in quick succession, with the Aston Martins of Stroll and Alonso also bettering Hamilton’s time.

Piastri improved to second on his next run on softs, falling 0.037s short of Bearman.

Verstappen found himself 16th after the first runs and could not improve on his second run, sliding wide at Turn 9 with the Red Bull not responding well to how plank wear must be managed at this circuit.

“Oh my God, mate,” Verstappen reported over team radio. “The car and the ride is a tiny but better, but now sliding in Turn 1.”

Verstappen opted for a double cool lap ahead of his final run, but was once again unable to improve and was eliminated.

“I have no grip. Zero!” Verstappen said as Red Bull, with Tsunoda only 19th, suffered a double Q1 elimination.

Norris posted three purple sectors on his final lap of Q1 to reclaim top spot, outpacing Bearman’s earlier benchmark by 0.235s, before Gasly popped his Alpine into second place with a late effort.

Bortoleto was ultimately unable to make it out on track and will start his home race from last place.

Eliminated: Max Verstappen (16th), Esteban Ocon (17th), Franco Colapinto (18th), Yuki Tsunoda (19th), Gabriel Bortoleto (20th)

Brazilian Grand Prix 2025: Q2

Albon set the early pace in the early stages of Q2 before the rest came out to play.

Piastri, Hamilton and Hadjar all bettered the Williams driver’s time in quick succession, with Bearman continuing his impressive form by outpacing the McLaren for top spot.

Leclerc abandoned his first lap after a moment on the kerb at the exit of Turn 4 and could only manage 13th with his first representative time.

Antonelli fell 0.019s short of Bearman’s benchmark at the front with Russell more than a tenth behind his rookie teammate in fourth.

“Got no grip,” Russell reported over team radio as he returned to the garage after the first runs. “Feels s**t. We’re missing something here. Don’t know what.”

The Mercedes drivers returned to the track too late to record a lap during the final runs.

Norris was also initially lacking his pace from Q1, 0.175s off the pace in fifth after the first flying laps.

Leclerc took himself out of danger by initially rising to third with his final run, with Norris clocking purple first and second sectors to take P1 from Bearman.

Hamilton was the big name to fall in Q2 along with the Aston Martins and Williamses.

Eliminated: Fernando Alonso (11th), Alex Albon (12th), Lewis Hamilton (13th), Lance Stroll (14th), Carlos Sainz (15th)

Brazilian Grand Prix 2025: Q3

That left Bearman, Gasly, Leclerc, Hulkenberg, Lawson, Hadjar, Norris, Piastri, Russell and Antonelli in the top-10 shootout.

Bearman produced his slowest lap of qualifying so far despite going purple in the second and third sectors, opening the door for Leclerc to set the early pace.

A front-left lockup at Turn 1 put Norris on the back foot, leaving him slowest of all after the first runs as Piastri outpaced Leclerc by 0.002s to take provisional pole.

Antonelli suffered a slide at Turn 9 but still managed to pip a struggling Russell to an initial fourth on the first runs.

“I got nothing with this tyre,” Russell said over team radio before turning to the medium compound for his second run. “Don’t know what’s going on.”

Bearman was first out ahead of the final runs, but made a small mistake opening his lap and could not improve.

Leclerc momentarily took provisional pole before Norris recovered to outpace the Ferrari by 0.294s, with Antonelli improving to second.

Piastri failed to set a personal best in the middle sector on his final run, leaving him fourth on the grid.

Hadjar, Russell, Lawson, Bearman, Gasly and Hulkenberg completed the top 10.

Brazilian Grand Prix 2025: Provisional qualifying classification

1 Lando Norris McLaren 1:09.511

2 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +0.174

3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.294

4 Oscar Piastri McLaren +0.375

5 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +0.420

6 George Russell Mercedes +0.431

7 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +0.451

8 Oliver Bearman Haas +0.466

9 Pierre Gasly Alpine +0.491

10 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber +0.528

11 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +0.385

12 Alexander Albon Williams +0.437

13 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +0.484

14 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +0.545

15 Carlos Sainz Williams +0.856

16 Max Verstappen Red Bull +0.747

17 Esteban Ocon Haas +0.782

18 Franco Colapinto Alpine +0.976

19 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull +1.055

20 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber No time

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