Oscar Piastri Leads McLaren Front Row for Sprint Race at Interlagos

1 November 2024

Photo by: Damian Hall / Creative Drones Inc

MCLAREN’s Oscar Piastri secured pole position for the São Paulo Sprint race, setting a time of 1:08.899, a mere 0.029 seconds ahead of teammate Lando Norris. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc will start close behind, 0.254 seconds adrift in third.

Looking ahead to the race, Piastri said: “It's going to be a very different type of sprint to last year, I think, with the resurfacing. So, we’ll see what the temperature does, what the weather does, but starting from the best seat in the house, so we'll try to make sure it stays that way.”

Norris, though narrowly missing pole, remains undeterred in his title bid, noting, “Tomorrow is a completely different day, so we'll see. We definitely made some good steps forward, so we'll see in the race tomorrow.”

Leclerc starts behind the McLaren duo, with Red Bull's Max Verstappen following in fourth.

The biggest surprise of the session, however, was Mercedes’ Sir Lewis Hamilton. In a shocking turn of events, the seven-time World Champion was eliminated in the first part of Sprint Qualifying and will start 11th—a disappointing result on a weekend when he’s set to honor his childhood hero, Ayrton Senna, by driving the late motorsport legend’s McLaren.

Throughout the session, the Brit voiced frustration over the car's handling, struggling with the setup's response to the bumps on the newly resurfaced circuit. The discomfort seemed to hinder his performance, as the car fought him on every ripple and undulation of the track.