Sprint weekends don’t waste time, and neither did McLaren. Lando Norris topped SQ1 in São Paulo with a 1:09.627, kicking off the Brazilian Grand Prix with the sort of tidy, confident lap that’s become his signature in 2025. Oscar Piastri kept him honest as usual, but the headline was McLaren’s sharpness straight out of the blocks at Interlagos.
There was traffic, there was tow-hunting, and there was just the one compound to juggle as the field tiptoed through the mandatory medium-tyre opening segment. Early on, McLaren owned the timing screens before Max Verstappen used a useful pull up the hill from Juncao to briefly go quickest by almost two-tenths. George Russell then nicked top spot by a whisker, only for Norris to slap in a lap three tenths clear of everyone. Piastri promptly restored the McLaren 1-2, nudging Russell to third and shuffling Verstappen to the fringes.
Fernando Alonso split that fight with a punchy effort for Aston Martin, slotting into the sharp end and reminding everyone Interlagos still rewards the brave. Behind, Ferrari were searching. Lewis Hamilton climbed as high as sixth on his second run and Charles Leclerc to eighth, but the red cars never looked particularly at ease, and the stopwatch didn’t flatter them.
The real drama hit in the final minutes. With the track rubbering up, the drop zone kept moving: both Williams drivers were flirting with danger, Esteban Ocon and Franco Colapinto were in trouble, and Yuki Tsunoda — carrying a damaged rhythm after his FP1 crash — couldn’t drag himself out. Ocon briefly escaped, but the trapdoor swung back open, and he fell with the flag.
Carlos Sainz endured the roughest Friday of the lot. A lock-up on his last push run wrecked the lap and his temper. The Williams driver lit up the radio with a barb about “the worst execution” he’d ever seen as he tumbled out in 20th. Tsunoda joined him — a surprise Red Bull exit at this stage — along with Ocon, Colapinto, and Liam Lawson. The sting is even sharper for the Racing Bulls after Isack Hadjar fired in a stellar, hassle-free P7.
There were bright sparks elsewhere. Oliver Bearman continued to look extremely at home in a Haas with P6, and home hero Gabriel Bortoleto hustled the Sauber to P9, sending a ripple through the grandstands. Kimi Antonelli kept it clean to squeak through in 15th on his Interlagos sprint debut. And yes, Hamilton and Leclerc are safely into SQ2/3 contention — just not yet in the window that McLaren and Verstappen are occupying.
SQ1 top line:
– P1 Lando Norris, McLaren – 1:09.627
– P2 Max Verstappen, Red Bull – +0.348
– P3 Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin – +0.384
– P4 Oscar Piastri, McLaren – +0.390
– P5 George Russell, Mercedes – +0.421
Big winners:
– Oliver Bearman, Haas – P6 and tidy; no drama, just pace.
– Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls – P7 with authority as his teammate fell.
– Gabriel Bortoleto, Sauber – P9 at home. That’ll play well with the locals.
Ferrari watch:
– Lewis Hamilton P10, Charles Leclerc P12. Through, but seven tenths off Norris in a segment where slipstream games and track evolution exaggerate gaps. Still, the car looked on a narrow knife-edge; they’ve got work to do before the softs come out later.
Eliminated in SQ1:
– 16. Franco Colapinto, Alpine
– 17. Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls
– 18. Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull
– 19. Esteban Ocon, Haas
– 20. Carlos Sainz, Williams
If you’re looking for tells this early in the weekend, McLaren look immediately switched on — traction out of the infield, confidence over the bumps, and both drivers extracting it without much fuss. Verstappen has pace in hand and a knack for timing tows, while Alonso and Aston Martin seem particularly feisty on the mediums.
As ever at Interlagos, clean air later today will matter almost as much as raw speed. For Sainz and Tsunoda, it’s already a long Friday. For Norris, it’s the ideal start: clear intent, clean lap, and the timing screens to prove it.
