The sprint qualification continued the program of the Brazilian Grand Prix on Friday, whose big winner was Oscar Piastri.
The first few laps of SQ1 were interesting, and it was already clear that this stage could bring some serious fireworks: On the continuously improved track, we saw Liam Lawson at the front, followed by Oscar Piastri. Finally, Lando Norris completed this section ahead of his teammate and Alexander Albon. Among those eliminated were the two Aston Martins, Yuki Tsunoda, Guanyu Zhou, and Esteban Ocon.
In SQ2, Norris again opened at the front, followed by Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen, and there was no doubt about the top three. Behind them, however, almost anything could happen; things could go in any direction. Who would have thought, for example, that Oliver Bearman, who stepped in due to Kevin Magnussen's illness, would easily advance to SQ3? However, we were no longer surprised by Sergio Perez's elimination; the simple elimination of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Hülkenberg—as both teammates advanced—was much more of a sensation, while Franco Collapinto and Valtteri Bottas were unable to participate in the remaining battles.
In the final phase of sprint qualifying, the battle was now on soft compounds, and the balance of power reversed: Oscar Piastri was the fastest and started the race from the first grid position in the sprint of the Brazilian Grand Prix, leaving Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc behind.
