Oscar Piastri achieved an important sprint pole at Qatar, for the sake of the Formula 1 world championship as his title rivals were only P3 – Lando Norris – and P6 – Max Verstappen.

The McLaren driver set the pace when it mattered most in Friday’s SQ3, by being at the top of the times after both his flying laps, with Oscar’s final benchmark of one minute, 20.055 seconds leaving him just 0.032 seconds clear of George Russell.

Lando Norris, who holds a 24-point lead over Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen ahead of the Qatar Grand Prix, which means he can claim a maiden Formula 1 title this weekend, finished two-tenths further back after running wide at the last corner on his final effort.

Fernando Alonso is P4 for Aston Martin while Yuki Tsunoda has finally out-qualified his Red Bull teammate to P5. Max Verstappen, the defending champion, was complaining of bouncing throughout the sprint qualifying.

Verstappen had been investigated alongside Norris as both were apparently impeding each other at various phases of SQ1 – but no further action was taken from the race stewards.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli was pushed down into seventh despite almost falling out of qualifying in the second stage of the session, 0.01 seconds ahead of Carlos Sainz.

Charles Leclerc finished the session ninth ahead of Alex Albon, who ensured that both Williams cars had got into SQ3 despite the team’s expectations to struggle with the range of corners present at the Qatar circuit.

Antonelli had earned a reprieve and an entry into the final part of sprint qualifying when Isack Hadjar had his lap deleted for track limits at Turn 8. The Mercedes driver had not initially done enough on his final lap to progress, but Hadjar lost his P10 lap time after going off.

Ollie Bearman improved on his final lap but was unable to progress beyond P12, while Gabriel Bortoleto out-qualified teammate Nico Hulkenberg. The Saubers will line up in P13 and P14. Esteban Ocon was also eliminated from SQ2 in P15.

Lewis Hamilton is having a tricky time in the Ferrari and was the first big name to drop out in the opening stage of sprint qualifying as he was unable to improve enough in his final lap to progress to SQ2. Hamilton sat in the drop zone ahead of his last effort, and only progressed up to P15 – with drivers lower down the order improving on their final runs.

Antonelli’s subsequent lap put Hamilton back into the bottom five, and improvements from Hadjar, Bearman, and Ocon ensured that Hamilton was pushed further down the order. The late improvement of the Haas drivers and Albon put Lance Stroll and Liam Lawson into the bottom five, ahead of Hamilton.

The Alpine duo of Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto will form the bottom end of the grid.

So congratulations to Oscar Piastri with the sprint P1 grid position. This is an important step in terms of fighting back in the championship. Only eight points is on offer in the sprint race but every points counts. It will be fascinating how Lando Norris and Max Verstappen will perform in the final sprint event of the season.

Qatar Grand Prix, sprint qualifying results:
1 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:20.055
2 George Russell Mercedes 1:20.087
3 Lando Norris McLaren 1:20.285
4 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:20.450
5 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull 1:20.519
6 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:20.528
7 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:20.532
8 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:20.542
9 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:20.622
10 Alexander Albon Williams 1:20.788
11 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 1:21.433
12 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:21.494
13 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber 1:21.567
14 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:21.631
15 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:21.666
16 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:21.807
17 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1:21.851
18 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:22.043
19 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:22.112
20 Franco Colapinto Alpine 1:22.364

Max Verstappen hit the jackpot by winning the Las Vegas Grand Prix and is still in the championship battle following his 69th career Formula 1 win. He finished ahead of Lando Norris and George Russell.

The Red Bull driver made a quick start in which Lando Norris was forced into an aggressive defence into the opening corner, but the McLaren driver outbraked himself in the short run to Turn 1. The reigning world champion pull enough of a gap to lead the race, while Norris ended up losing another position to George Russell, who slipped past Carlos Sainz off the line.

Although Russell put Verstappen under pressure in the early laps, the Red Bull driver resisted the challenge and rebuilt a gap to keep the Mercedes out of DRS range. As such, Russell then began to fall back, providing Norris with an opportunity to upgrade his position.

However, Russell’s undercut strategy to collect the hard tyre means that any Norris challenge would have to wait until after the stops, and briefly offered the Mercedes driver a chance to get closer to Verstappen once the pitstop had played out.

Verstappen emerged from his own stop just over a second clear of Russell and, with fresher tyres, easily drove into the distance. This again left Russell into the pressure of Norris, who cruised past on lap 34 at Turn 14 – the now third-placed Russell admitting that he did not want to take risk and concede a podium finish.

Norris was told to chase after Verstappen, but the four-time world champion was kept informed of the McLaren driver’s renewed challenge and began to turn in a series of quick laps. This ensured that Norris had little chance of reclaiming the lead, and the deal was done when Lando’s pace dropped significantly late on.

A need to save fuel at the end of the race cost Norris around 14 seconds in the final four laps, although his advantage over Russell was enough to keep second at the finishing line. Russell had encountered the same steering issues that he had suffered in qualifying, although protection from a long-stinting Andrea Kimi Antonelli ensured that George faced no further threat to his podium finish.

After starting P17, Antonelli had done 48 laps on the hard tyre having stopped early on to switch to the soft tyres he had started on, but dropped from fourth to fifth due to a five-second penalty – following a jump start by a barely perceptible amount on the grid.

Oscar Piastri thus moved up to fourth to reduce the damage in the championship, although he now sits 30 points behind Norris in the standings, having kept Charles Leclerc while battling behind Antonelli.

Sainz collected seventh, over ten seconds clear of Isack Hadjar as the duo’s impressive qualifying performances were converted into points finishes, while Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton completed the top ten. Hamilton moved up from P19 on the grid, having survived contact with Alex Albon on the lap 13.

So congratulations to Max Verstappen in winning the LAs Vegas race and is still in the championship battle. This latest success means he is now ten points behind Oscar Piastri in the drivers’ standings. As for Lando Norris, he can win the title at next weekend’s Qatar event.

UPDATE: Following post-race checks, McLaren were found to have failed to meet the minimum thickness requirement of the rear skid block. Meaning both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have been disqualified from the race results. That promotes a double podium for Mercedes with George Russell and Kimi Antonelli taking P2 and P3. Following the disqualification, Max is now on equal points with Oscar with 366. Just 24 points from championship leader Lando, who has 390 points. The title battle just got tense and interesting!

Las Vegas Grand Prix, race results:
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:21:08.429
2 George Russell Mercedes +23.546s
3 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +30.488s
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +30.678s
5 Carlos Sainz Williams +34.924s
6 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +45.257s
7 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber +51.134s
8 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +59.369s
9 Esteban Ocon Haas +60.635s
10 Oliver Bearman Haas +70.549s
11 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +85.308s
12 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull +86.974s
13 Pierre Gasly Alpine +91.702s
14 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +1 lap
15 Franco Colapinto Sauber +1 lap
Alexander Albon Williams DNF
Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber DNF
Lance Stroll Aston Martin DNF
Lando Norris McLaren +20.741s/DSQ*
Oscar Piastri McLaren +27.650s/DSQ*
*Disqualified for excessive skid block rear

Lando Norris hit the jackpot by taking pole position for the Las Vegas Grand Prix ahead of his title challenger Max Verstappen.

The McLaren driver has achieved three consecutive pole positions. His lap time ofone minute, 47.934 seconds was nearly three-tenths faster than Verstappen during a qualifying session which remained wet throughout.

Carlos Sainz put in another strong qualifying performance for Williams and finished ahead of George Russell, in which the Mercedes driver having topped both Q1 and Q2 sessions in the worst of the conditions.

Oscar Piastri was left in fifth position having gone into the run-off area at Turn 12 on his final Q3 effort after going wheel-to-wheel with Isack Hadjar’s Racing Bulls.

The second Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson finished in P6, as the top ten was completed by Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin, Hadjar, Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari, which also ran deep at Turn 12 on his final effort, and Pierre Gasly’s Alpine.

Norris picked his way through the Turn 14-15-16 series of corners and went sideways under acceleration, something which cost time but ultimately proved good enough for pole. This was evidently of some surprise to Norris, who figured that someone behind him might be able to find time improvement.

The wet conditions greeted the start of the qualifying session and, although 16 of the 20 drivers attempted to start Q1 on intermediate tyres, these were quickly abandoned for full wets as the circuit offered low grip as the rain continued to fall.

The drivers eventually switched to the intermediates by Q3, as the circuit had slowly dried through the progression of qualifying – but the track remained treacherous despite the formation of a drying line.

Verstappen and Sainz were both half a second clear of George Russell, who could not repeat his pole-winning efforts from last year and ended up in fourth place. However, Sainz will have to answer to the stewards having allegedly rejoined the circuit unsafely in front of Lance Stroll in Q1.

Oscar Piastri was unable to close in on teammate and title rival Norris on his final lap after following Charles Leclerc into the run-off at Turn 12.

Fernando Alonso was a further 0.4 seconds back, and a tenth ahead of Isack Hadjar who, despite flashes of impressive pace throughout the session, could not qualify ahead of Liam Lawson.

Like Piastri, Leclerc was unable to improve on his final effort thanks to his Turn 12 off and only managed to reach ninth, as Pierre Gasly completed the top ten.

Nico Hulkenberg had been eliminated out of qualifying in the final moments of Q2 by Gasly, who was last to cross the timing line to break into the top ten. He will be joined on the sixth row of the grid by Stroll, whose intermediate-tyre gamble did not pay off.

The Aston Martin driver had shown strong pace throughout qualifying, but a swap to the inters after the halfway point of the session did not offer work as the circuit proved to be slow at drying out due the low track temperatures.

Both Haas drivers were knocked out in Q2, following Oliver Bearman’s narrow escape from Q1 after aquaplaning into the Turn 14 wall. Franco Colapinto’s best lap was halted by a wild slide at Turn 15, which the Alpine driver managed to save – but he could not keep himself from finishing the session in P15.

In a Q1 defined by poor visibility, Alex Albon hit the barrier on the exit of Turn 16 in his hopes of making it into Q2, having just set a purple first sector and a competitive middle sector. The Williams driver thus fell at the first segment of qualifying, joined by Andrea Kimi Antonelli who was unable to find enough improvement in his final effort.

Bortoleto and Yuki Tsunoda were also dropped out in a tricky opening stage of qualifying, along with Lewis Hamilton who having apparently picked up a bollard at Turn 14.

So congratulations to Lando Norris in taking an important pole position ahead of his championship rivals. It will be fascinating if McLaren have got good race pace. Bring on the Las Vegas night race.

Las Vegas Grand Prix, qualifying positions:
1 Lando Norris McLaren 1:47.934
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:48.257
3 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:48.296
4 George Russell Mercedes 1:48.803
5 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:48.961
6 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1:49.062
7 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:49.466
8 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 1:49.554
9 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:49.872
10 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:51.540
11 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:52.781
12 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:52.850
13 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:52.987
14 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:53.094
15 Franco Colapinto Alpine 1:53.683
16 Alexander Albon Williams 1:56.220
17 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:56.314
18 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber 1:56.674
19 Yuki Tsuonda Red Bull 1:56.798
20 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:57.115

Lando Norris achieved a perfect Interlagos weekend with sprint pole, sprint win, pole position for the main race and the Sao Paulo Grand Prix victory. By scoring the maximum 33 points with this sprint format, Lando extends his points lead in the championship and looking the favourite to win the drivers’ title.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli finished an impressive P2 for Mercedes, surviving a late race attack from Max Verstappen, who drove an incredible race after starting in the pitlane to finish on the podium for Red Bull.

As for Oscar Piastri, he received a ten-second penalty for causing a collision with Antonelli which knocked out Leclerc from the race. The McaLren driver only managed fifth.

Norris dominated a dry Interlagos race from pole, while behind him Verstappen marched from a pitlane start to third as Lando’s other title rival Piastri suffered his latest setback.

Norris led the start from Antonelli, Charles Leclerc and Piastri – the championship leader having started on the medium tyre while Antonelli opted for softs.

The race was neutralised after two laps for a crash by Gabriel Bortoleto, who was taken off the track at Turn 7 by Lance Stroll. After clipping the Aston Martin’s left-rear wheel, the Sauber veered into the wall at slow speed, enough to damage the suspension.

In the background there was also contact between Lewis Hamilton and Franco Colapinto on the main straight, as Hamilton appeared to misjudge an overtake and clipped his front wing off against the rear of the Alpine, forcing him to pit for a new nose and landing him a five-second penalty. It was an action-packed start to the race for Hamilton, who had already traded a blow with Carlos Sainz in Turn 1.

There was more drama on the lap six restart when fourth-placed Piastri went down the inside of Antonelli and Leclerc to make it three-wide into Turn 1. With Antonelli having nowhere to go in the middle, he and Piastri made contact, punting the Mercedes into the path of Leclerc.

The Ferrari driver came off worst suffering big damage, which brought out a virtual safety car. Meanwhile, pitlane starter Verstappen got up to P13 after the restart but used the following VSC period to change to the mediums due to a front-right puncture.

As the VSC was lifted on the start of lap nine, Piastri chased after Norris for the lead while stewards looked at the three-way incident, handing the McLaren driver a 10-second penalty for triggering the melee.

Norris soon restored a comfortable gap as he continued his superb form, and with Piastri out of the way the nearest competitors were Antonelli, who had escaped damage from the aforementioned contact, and the other Mercedes of George Russell.

They were eventually joined by Verstappen, who had lost ground due to his early VSC pitstop, but deployed much improved pace compared to Saturday thanks to his parc ferme set-up changes. Having gotten rid of his soft tyres early on, the defending champion cleared the entire midfield on his next two medium-tyred stints.

Verstappen’s impressive charge was such that Norris emerged behind him after both of his pitstops, but the Red Bull driver eventually converted to a three-stopper that left him a net fourth, 14 seconds adrift of Norris, and also behind Mercedes duo Antonelli and Russell.

On his newer softs Verstappen was the fastest driver on the track once more and quickly closed the gap to third-placed Russell, passing Russell into Turn 1 on lap 63 of 71. Verstappen then chased Antonelli for second, but just ran out of laps to take P2 from the rookie.

Norris achieved to his seventh Grand Prix win of the season with a 10-second margin on Antonelli, who recorded his best-ever Formula 1 finish in second. Verstappen completed his frantic comeback race with a hard-earned third to retain an outside chance of a fifth world title.

In contrast to the Red Bull driver’s impressive comeback, Piastri was in a tricky situation given his 10-second penalty. In theory, his best option would have been a one-stop to reduce the damage, but with Pirelli’s harder C2 tyre not looking very competitive, medium starter Piastri had to be put on the soft tyres with 31 laps remaining and then needed a second stop to get back onto the mediums with 20 laps to go.

Piastri then cleared midfield leader Oliver Bearman in the Haas for fifth, but the McLaren driver could not avoid falling behind title rival Verstappen and the Mercedes cars and stayed there until the finish.

Courtesy of another rapid race with bold overtakes, Bearman took home sixth on another big day for Haas in the constructors’ standings.

A one-stopping Liam Lawson held on for seventh despite his pace dropping off severely towards the end. Lawson’s strategy did help him stay ahead of Racing Bulls teammate Isack Hadjar and Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg, with a determined Pierre Gasly taking a point for struggling Alpine.

As part of a long DRS train of midfield cars, Alex Albon and Esteban Ocon narrowly missed out on a points finish.

In the background Hamilton eventually retired with suspected floor damage from his early incident with Colapinto, completing an awful day for the Scuderia with two DNFs.

In the championship Norris now leads Piastri by 24 points with three rounds remaining, with Verstappen now 49 points behind.

Ferrari’s non-score meant Mercedes reinforced its second place in the constructors’ standings.

So the perfect weekend for Lando Norris by being the quickest and successful. The McLaren driver is looking the favourite to win the championship now in the dominant MCL39.

As for Max Verstappen, what a comeback performance from the pitlane to get P3. The Red Bull car was tricky to drive but he managed to drag that RB21 to a points finish.

Sao Paulo Grand Prix, race results:
1 Lando Norris McLaren 1:32:01.596
2 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +10.388s
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull +10.750s
4 George Russell Mercedes +15.267s
5 Oscar Piastri McLaren +15.749s
6 Oliver Bearman Haas +29.630s
7 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +52.642s
8 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +52.873s
9 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber +53.324s
10 Pierre Gasly Alpine +53.914s
11 Alexander Albon Williams +54.184s
12 Esteban Ocon Haas +54.696s
13 Carlos Sainz Williams +55.420s
14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +55.766s
15 Franco Colapinto Alpine +57.777s
16 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +58.247s
17 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull +69.176s
Lewis Hamilton Ferrari DNF
Charles Leclerc Ferrari DNF
Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber DNF

Lando Norris is looking extremely confident compared to his championship rivals by taking pole position at Interlagos, as Oscar Piastri had to settle with P4 while Max Verstappen suffered with a lack of grip and is only P16.

While Piastri was able to bounce back from his sprint crash to go take provisional pole in Q3, the McLaren driver was unable to resist his teammate’s super pace and will line up on the second row with P4.

Following his positive sprint result with P2, Andrea Kimi Antonelli repeated the performance by taking a front row slot for Mercedes in qualifying. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc found some pace to take P3 for the Scuderia, one position clear of Oscar Piastri.

After making a mistake on his first Q3 flyer with a lock-up in Turn 1, Norris pieced together a much-improved lap to go to the top with one minute, 09.511 seconds lap.

That proved nearly two tenths faster than Mercedes driver Antonelli in a session decided by tiny margins, with Ferrari’s Leclerc third.

Piastri led the first runs in Q3 with one minute, 09.897 seconds lap, just 0.002 seconds ahead of Ferrari’s Leclerc.

But the McLaren driver, who tried to bounce back from crashing out of Saturday morning’s sprint race, could only find a couple of thousandths on his second effort and dropped to fourth on the grid.

Oliver Bearman initially looked like the star of qualifying after looking in contention for pole early on, but ultimately it was fellow rookie Isack Hadjar by qualifying in an outstanding fifth ahead of George Russell, who was confused by balance issues on his Mercedes.

Hadjar’s Racing Bulls teammate Liam Lawson also enjoyed a strong session in seventh, sharing the fourth row with Bearman after the pair tangled in the sprint race.

Pierre Gasly was an solid ninth for Alpine as the Enstoney-based outfit proved more competitive in Brazil, with Nico Hulkenberg rounding out the top ten for Sauber.

Norris also topped Q2 with one minute, 09.616 seconds ahead of a surprising Bearman, while the Ferraris soon came under pressure in the middle of an extremely compact field.

After suffering a big moment on his first attempt Leclerc was on the outside looking in, but he recovered to advance to Q3. The same could not be said from Lewis Hamilton, who had been on the edge and missed the cut by a tenth in P13.

Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso could not improve on his final attempt and was eliminated in P11 by a tiny 0.016 seconds margin. Underlining just how close the margins were, Alonso missed the cut despite being just a quarter of a second slower than Bearman in second.

Alonso was followed out by Alex Albon. Behind Hamilton in P13, Lance Stroll and Carlos Sainz were also knocked out in Q2.

Norris also swept the first qualifying segment ahead of Gasly, Bearman and Piastri, with one minute, 09.656 seconds lap.

But while the McLarens were safely through, their outside title rival Max Verstappen soon found himself in big trouble.

Red Bull’s significant post-sprint set-up changes to answer the RB21’s handling problems appeared to not to be working, as Verstappen set two poor laps on the same set of softs which left the reigning world champion in the drop zone with five minutes to go.

Verstappen found nearly three tenths on his final attempt, but so did the cars around him, leaving the four-time champion a shocking P16, a tenth from safety and a massive eight tenths behind leader Norris.

Verstappen was followed out by Esteban Ocon and Franco Colapinto, who tried to rally from a heavy sprint race crash in a spare chassis. Yuki Tsunoda was also eliminated in P19, meaning Red Bull suffered their first double Q1 exit since the 2006 Japanese Grand Prix.

There was huge disappointment for the home fans as Gabriel Bortoleto, unable to make qualifying following his massive sprint race shunt. The Sauber mechanics kept working on his car until the very last second, but were unable to send the driver out in time.

So advantage Lando Norris with pole position. He looks like the championship favourite now, with so much confidence and speed. To be several places ahead of his title rivals in this qualifying session, he looks likely to score a race win in Interlagos. Will be fascinating if Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen can make a recovery.

Sao Paulo Grand Prix, qualifying positions:
1 Lando Norris McLaren 1:09.511
2 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:09.685
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:09.805
4 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:09.886
5 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 1:09.931
6 George Russell Mercedes 1:09.942
7 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1:09.962
8 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:09.977
9 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:10.002
10 Nico Hulkenberg Haas 1:10.039
11 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:10.001
12 Alexander Albon Williams 1:10.053
13 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:10.100
14 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:10.161
15 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:10.472
16 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:10.403
17 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:10.438
18 Franco Colapinto Alpine 1:10.632
19 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull 1:10.711
20 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber No time

Lando Norris extended his championship lead to nine points following the Sao Paulo sprint win as his McLaren teammate and title rival Oscar Piastri crashing out.

Norris started Saturday morning’s 24-lap race from pole, with the Sao Paulo circuit still damp in places following overnight showers. The medium-shod McLaren driver held the lead from soft tyre starter Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Oscar Piastri, who had also opted for mediums.

But Piastri crashed out of third on lap 6 after slipping on Turn 3’s wet inside kerbs, going into the outside wall. Behind the McLaren driver, Nico Hulkenberg and Franco Colapinto followed his example with nearly identical spins, with Hulkenberg escaping with minor repairs to his Sauber while Colapinto’s heavy smash in the Alpine brought out the red flag for barrier repairs.

Norris controlled his lead on a rolling lap 9 restart, while behind him George Russell briefly snatched second away from Mercedes teammate Antonelli, before the rookie attacked into Turn 4.

Reigning world champion Max Verstappen managed to hold off Fernando Alonso for fourth, after having passed the Aston Martin driver at the start of the sprint – Alonso was unable to make his restart choice for the soft tyres pay off against the Red Bull on mediums.

But Verstappen, who had complained of his car’s lack of grip throughout Friday, found similar struggles to get his RB21 to turn in, leading to a tense exchange between the four-time champion and his race engineer.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton followed in sixth and seventh, with Hamilton having won several positions off the start after only qualifying in P11.

At the front, Norris initially maintained easy control until he started losing the benefit of his fading soft tyres, with Antonelli’s longer-lasting mediums allowing him to get within DRS range.

Following a poor lap from the leader, lap 21 of 24 was the first opportunity for Antonelli to start challenging around Lando’s gearbox. But that was about as close as the Mercedes driver would get, with Norris hanging on to his first sprint win of the season.

Russell was third behind Antonelli, followed by a frustrated Verstappen. On lap 22, Leclerc gained on a slide from Alonso to move past the Aston Martin driver for fifth, ten seconds behind Verstappen, with Hamilton seventh.

Alpine’s Pierre Gasly took the final points place from Lance Stroll late on.

Lando’s eight points for the sprint win and Oscar’s non-score means he extends the drivers’ championship lead from one to nine points ahead of Saturday afternoon’s main qualifying session. Verstappen now trails Norris by 39 points in third.

Starting the final lap, home hero Gabriel Bortoleto crashed out to follow Piastri and Colapinto into retirement, the Sauber dramatically spinning out under braking for Turn 1 and almost collecting Alex Albon.

So an important sprint win for Lando Norris. Nine points is significant and it will be fascinating if Oscar Piastri can bounce back from this disappointment to get a good grid slot for the main qualifying.

Sao Paulo Grand Prix, sprint results:
1 Lando Norris McLaren 53:25.928
2 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +0.845s
3 George Russell Mercedes +1.473s
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull +2.105s
5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +12.060s
6 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +18.306s
7 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +18.603s
8 Pierre Gasly Alpine +19.366s
9 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +23.933s
10 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +29.548s
11 Esteban Ocon Haas +31.000s
12 Oliver Bearman Haas +31.334s
13 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +38.090s
14 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull +38.462s
15 Carlos Sainz Williams +38.951s
16 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber +42.349s
17 Alexander Albon Williams +55.456s
Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber DNF
Oscar Piastri McLaren DNF
Franco Colapinto Alpine DNF

New championship points leader Lando Norris achieved his first sprint pole of the season at Interlagos, edging out Andrea Kimi Antonelli from Mercedes and his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri.

Norris was supreme on both of his SQ3 laps to fend off a strong effort from Mercedes Antonelli, who split the two championship contending, as Verstappen struggled for grip in his Red Bull.

Norris took provisional pole on his first SQ3 lap from both Mercedes cars and Piastri, with the McLaren driver’s one minute, 09.271 seconds the target lap to beat.

Norris and Piastri then stayed out for two cooldown laps before launching again on the same set of softs, while Russell, Antonelli followed a similar strategy with one cooldown lap.

Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso, who had surprisingly led SQ2, were among the five cars deciding to bank everything on a single flying lap instead.

But as it happened, both McLaren drivers found more pace on their second attempt, with Norris laying down a marker with one minute, 09.243 seconds. That was one tenth quicker than Antonelli, who managed to edge out Piastri as he only marginally improved as well.

George Russell was fourth in the other Mercedes, while Alonso held off a puzzled Verstappen for fifth.

Lance Stroll was seventh on a strong day for Aston Martin, ahead of Charles Leclerc, with Isack Hadjar and Nico Hulkenberg rounding out the top ten.

Alonso had already played a starring role in SQ2 by leading the first set of runs from Norris, Piastri and Russell. The two-time world champion’s one minute, 09.330 seconds would stay on top until the end as few drivers found improvements on their second flying lap on the same set of medium tyres, which are mandatory in the first two sprint qualifying segments.

Hamilton was on the outside looking in by only going P11, largely due to a lock-up, while Ferrari teammate Leclerc not particularly safe in ninth. Even world champion Verstappen was under pressure in eighth, just one tenth removed from the drop zone, as he called his Red Bull car “completely broken”.

On the second run none of the three drivers improved, with Hamilton not even making it across the line in time due to yellow flags as he was dropped out in P11. But Verstappen and a spinning Leclerc were handed a reprieve when none of their rivals improved substantially either.

Albon and Gasly missed a chance to advance to SQ3, lining up behind Hamilton in P12 and P13. Sauber rookie Gabriel Bortoleto also could not make the top ten on his home debut, taking P14 ahead of Haas driver Oliver Bearman.

In SQ1 Norris convincingly set the fastest time – one minute, 09.627 seconds on mediums – three tenths ahead of Verstappen and Piastri.

Franco Colapinto could not celebrate the confirmation of his 2026 Alpine contract with an SQ2 spot, being knocked out at the last second by Stroll.

Colapinto was P16 ahead of Liam Lawson, a disappointing Yuki Tsunoda and Esteban Ocon. Sainz was eliminated and is P20 after locking up his front left wheel into Turn 1, labelling Williams’ qualifying effort “the worst execution ever”.

So congratulations to Lando Norris in achieving his front sprint pole this season. By starting from the top end of the grid compared to his title rivals, this is advantage moment for Norris to score more important points.

Sao Paulo Grand Prix, sprint qualifying results:
1 Lando Norris McLaren 1:09.243
2 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:09.340
3 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:09.428
4 George Russell Mercedes 1:09.495
5 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:09.496
6 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:09.580
7 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:09.671
8 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:09.725
9 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 1:09.775
10 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:09.935
11 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:09.811
12 Alexander Albon Williams 1:09.813
13 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:09.852
14 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber 1:09.923
15 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:09.946
16 Franco Colapinto Alpine 1:10.441
17 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1:10.666
18 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull 1:10.692
19 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:10.872
20 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:11.120

Lando Norris drove a masterclass race with a lights to flag victory at the Mexico City Grand Prix and this success means he becomes the new championship points leader over his McLaren teammate.

Charles Leclerc just managed to hold off Max Verstappen to finish P2 for Ferrari thanks to a late VSC. At least the Red Bull driver made a recovery from being pushed off track at the start to come home P3.

And yet it was Oliver Bearman who achieved a fantastic result with P4 for Haas. This is the best result for the rookie and the American-based team this season.

Norris was offered a chance to overturn his 14-point deficit on Piastri by taking his fifth pole of the campaign, while Piastri only started seventh.

Despite the long run as cars dashed down to Turn 1, Norris managed to keep his lead, while the main battle took place behind the poleman.

Ferrari’s Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton went side by side, before fifth-starting Verstappen made it three-wide on the outside. The Red Bull driver, who was the only frontrunner to start on mediums instead of softs, ran out of room and went onto the grass in the runoff area.

Leclerc also went off to cut Turn 2 and take the lead, but handed the position back immediately to Norris. Hamilton snatched third back from Verstappen.

On lap 6 Verstappen did a divebombed on Hamilton into Turn 1, leading to a clash between the pair, with Verstappen going through the Turn 2 grass. Their battle continued into Turn 4, where Hamilton locked up and went wide, while Verstappen was picked off by opportunistic Haas rookie Oliver Bearman, who had made a rocket start from ninth.

In the battle Russell lost out and dropped to seventh behind teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli, while Piastri was briefly passed by Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda before reclaiming seventh.

Hamilton would pay a price for going off at Turn 4, with the race stewards deeming the Ferrari driver had gained an unfair advantage, meaning a 10-second penalty. Taking his penalty at the first round of pitstops around lap 24, Hamilton dropped to the back of the battle he was in.

At the front Norris comfortably drove away from Leclerc, who himself was under no threat for second until the final stages of the race.

On his alternate strategy Verstappen extended his stint on mediums, initially dropping behind the rest of the for five contenders.

That allow Bearman into an unlikely podium position, defending from Antonelli, Russell and Piastri.

Russell was frustrated at being stuck between his teammate and a charging Piastri, yet still being asked to look after his tyres. After a long back-and-forth, George eventually got his wish to swap positions in his chase after Bearman.

But that midfield battle received another twist when Piastri, who was also stuck behind the Bearman train, decided to switch to a two-stop strategy with another pitstop for softs. Bearman and the Mercedes cars all responded, with Piastri making the undercut work on Antonelli to take sixth, still ahead of Bearman and Russell.

That two-stop for his rivals worked out brilliantly for Verstappen, who stayed out and suddenly re-emerged in third position behind Norris and Leclerc. Despite being on older softs Verstappen comfortably defended a 14-second gap to Bearman and instead set his target on Leclerc, who was going to the end on slower medium tyres.

Verstappen caught Leclerc with two laps to the flag, but a virtual safety car for the Williams of Carlos Sainz meant to hold their positions. By the time the VSC was withdrawn on the final lap, Verstappen had run out of possible overtaking opportunities.

Norris took his sixth win of the season, taking the victory by 30 seconds over Leclerc and Verstappen, and grabbed the lead in the championship for the first time in six months.

Behind Leclerc and Verstappen, Bearman took a career-best result in fourth after an impressive performance in the Haas.

Piastri had also passed the other Mercedes of Russell for fifth, with a move down the inside of Turn 1 on lap 60. That led to Mercedes undoing its position swap, allowing Antonelli to take sixth ahead of his teammate.

Hamilton finished a distant eighth after his ten-second penalty knocked him out of contention, while Esteban Ocon completed a dream day for Haas in ninth and Gabriel Bortoleto took the final point for Sauber in tenth.

The race saw three retirements, with Fernando Alonso’s awful 2025 luck continuing due to a suspected brake issue. Liam Lawson was forced to retire after contact on the opening lap, while Nico Hulkenberg suffered a power issue.

Norris now heads to the final four races with a single point ahead of Piastri, with Verstappen now 36 points off the top of the table.

So congratulations to Lando Norris with this latest victory and he becomes the new championship leader. But the difference is only a single point. So the title battle is still on between the McLaren drivers.

Mexico City Grand Prix, race results:
1 Lando Norris McLaren 1:37:58.574
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +30.324s
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull +31.049s
4 Oliver Bearman Haas +40.955s
5 Oscar Piastri McLaren +42.065s
6 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +47.837s
7 George Russell Mercedes +50.287s
8 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +56.446s
9 Esteban Ocon Haas +75.464s
10 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber +76.863s
11 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull +79.048s
12 Alexander Albon Williams +1 lap
13 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +1 lap
14 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +1 lap
15 Pierre Gasly Alpine +1 lap
16 Franco Colapinto Alpine +1 lap
Carlos Sainz Williams DNF
Fernando Alonso Aston Martin DNF
Nico Hulkenberg Sauber DNF
Liam Lawson Racing Bulls DNF

Lando Norris achieved an important pole position in the 2025 Formula 1 championship battle by taking his McLaren MCL39 to the top of the leaderboard at the Mexico City Grand Prix qualifying.

The McLaren driver fended off a challenge from Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton to secure his first pole since the Belgian Grand Prix, toppling initial Q3 leader Leclerc with a time of one minute, 15.586 seconds lap around the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez circuit.

Hamilton was third ahead of his old Mercedes teammate Russell, while reigning world champion Max Verstappen struggled for grip in the fast second sector and could only manage fifth for Red Bull.

That was still better than championship leader Oscar Piastri, who had looked a step behind Norris all weekend and qualified eighth behind Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Carlos Sainz, although the latter will take a five-place grid penalty for causing a collision with Antonelli in the previous race at Circuit of the Americas.

Isack Hadjar and Oliver Bearman excelled to make it into Q3, and the rookie duo will share the fifth row.

Q2 was topped by Lando’s one minute, 16.252 seconds, two tenths clear of Hamilton and three ahead of Russell, Verstappen and Sainz.

In the other McLaren, Piastri was having difficulty to advance to the top ten shootout. The championship leader was tenth after the first run, although on used soft tyres, but even on new softs he struggled to keep up with the frontrunners.

Piastri eventually advanced in seventh, just 0.079 seconds ahead of Yuki Tsunoda.

Alongside Tsunoda, Esteban Ocon and Nico Hulkenberg were eliminated. Fernando Alonso was only P14 in the quickest Aston Martin, while a botched final lap cost Liam Lawson.

In Q1 it quickly became apparent track conditions were rapidly improving, with drivers trying to edge out two push laps on a single set of tyres as the track gripped up. It made for a random order, with Racing Bulls rookie Hadjar topping the session from Hamilton, Russell and Norris.

Verstappen went through in ninth after struggling for grip through the high-speed sector two Esses, which would become a recurring theme, ahead of Piastri.

Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto was the first driver to be eliminated in P16, followed by another poor showing for Alex Albon in the Williams.

At the back of the field, Alpine duo Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto were split by Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, with Colapinto left to rue a mistake which ruined a more promising looking lap.

So a vital pole position for Lando Norris in terms of the title battle. To be several places ahead of Oscar Piastri will benefit him in the upcoming race and if Norris wins, he will become the new championship leader.

Mexico City Grand Prix, qualifying results:
1 Lando Norris McLaren 1:15.586
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:15.848
3 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:15.938
4 George Russell Mercedes 1:16.034
5 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:16.070
6 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:16.118
7 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:16.174
8 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 1:16.252
9 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:16.460
10 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull 1:16.816
11 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:16.172*
12 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:16.837
13 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:17.016
14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:17.103
15 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1:18.072
16 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber 1:17.412
17 Alexander Albon Williams 1:17.490
18 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:17.546
19 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:17.606
20 Franco Colapinto Alpine 1:17.670
*Five-place grid penalty for causing a collision with Andrea Kimi Antonelli in COTA

Max Verstappen drove a masterclass race at the Circuit of the Americas, scoring maximum points in the main event following on from the sprint at the United States Grand Prix.

Lando Norris was able to gained the upper hand on Charles Leclerc by passing his rival twice at Turn 12. The McLaren driver had to settle for P2 while the Ferrari scored a podium.

At the Circuit of the Americas Verstappen led the field from pole, while Leclerc passed second-place start Norris around the outside of Turn 1, the Ferrari driver getting a better getaway on soft tyres compared to mediums for the rest of the frontrunners.

Lando’s bid to challenge Max was effectively ruined by falling behind Charles as he was then unable to overtake the soft-tyre Ferrari for the majority of the opening stint.

There was a brief virtual safety car on lap 7 for contact between Carlos Sainz and Andrea Kimi Antonelli in Turn 15, triggered by the Williams driver, which saw him knocked out of the race and also dumped Antonelli out of the top ten.

After that incident was cleared up, Norris remained stuck behind Leclerc until he finally got close enough to the back of the Ferrari on lap 21, and passed him on the inside of Turn 12.

That was the sign for Leclerc to pit for mediums, but the damage was already done for Norris as Verstappen’s gap had steadily increased to 11 seconds. To make matters worse, Norris had received a black and white flag for three track limits violations while hunting down Leclerc, which was stressful for the remainder of the 56-lap contest.

The second Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton followed three seconds behind Norris, with the championship leader Oscar Piastri in fifth position. Piastri managed to pick off George Russell at the start but soon started struggling for grip, as he continued what had been a low-key weekend.

Piastri made his only pitstop on lap 31 to protect against potential undercut from Russell, with Hamilton, Norris and then Verstappen also heading to the pits on subsequent laps.

By that time Norris had made up two seconds on Verstappen, but his pitstop then put the Briton behind Leclerc once more, despite this time on the faster tyres.

Keen to make the move on Leclerc much faster than in round one before he lost the edge of his soft tyres, Norris pushed for a move, but soon reported his tyres were past their best.

Norris then took his time, cooled his tyres and relaunched his attack in the closing laps, briefly getting the move made into Turn 1 on lap 51. Leclerc initially restored his position with a switchback, but was then powerless to hold Norris at bay on the main DRS straight, with Norris securing second on the run into Turn 12.

Hamilton dropped back from the Norris-Leclerc fight to finish a distant fourth, just ahead of Piastri in fifth and Russell in sixth.

In an otherwise uneventful race, Yuki Tsunoda survived a fraught fight with Oliver Bearman to claim seventh in the Red Bull, with Bearman’s spin also costing him eighth to Nico Hulkenberg.

Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso held off Liam Lawson and hard-charging teammate Lance Stroll to secure the final point.

It all means Piastri holds a 14-point lead over second-placed Norris in the championship, while Verstappen is third and 40 off top with five rounds remaining. The Mexican Grand Prix is next up and will be fascinating if Max can score more big points.

United States Grand Prix, race results:
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:34:00.161
2 Lando Norris McLaren +7.959s
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +15.373s
4 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +28.536s
5 Oscar Piastri McLaren +29.678s
6 George Russell Mercedes +33.456s
7 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull +52.714s
8 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber +57.249s
9 Oliver Bearman Haas +64.722s
10 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +70.001s
11 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +73.209s
12 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +74.778s
13 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +75.746
14 Alexander Albon Williams +80.000s
15 Esteban Ocon Haas +83.043s
16 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +92.807s
17 Franco Colapinto Alpine +1 lap
18 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber +1 lap
19 Pierre Gasly Alpine +1 lap
Carlos Sainz Williams DNF