The sprint qualifying continued the program of the Brazilian Grand Prix on Friday, with Oscar Piastri ultimately being the big winner.
The first laps of SQ1 unfolded interestingly, and it was already evident that this session could bring some serious fireworks: we saw Liam Lawson at the front, followed by Oscar Piastri, and finally Lando Norris took this segment ahead of his teammate and Alexander Albon. The two Aston Martins, Yuki Tsunoda, Guanyu Zhou, and Esteban Ocon were among those eliminated.
In SQ2, Norris once again opened at the front, with Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen closing in behind him, and there was no question about the top three. However, anything could happen behind them, and it could unfold in any way. Who would have thought, for example, that Oliver Bearman, stepping in for the sick Kevin Magnussen, would easily advance to SQ3? We were not surprised by Sergio Perez's exit, but the bigger shock was the smooth elimination of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Hülkenberg - as both of their teammates advanced - while Franco Collapinto and Valtteri Bottas could not continue in the further battles.
In the final stage of the sprint qualifying, the battle was now fought on soft tires, and the power dynamics shifted: Oscar Piastri was the fastest, and he will start from pole position in the Brazilian Grand Prix sprint race, ahead of Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc.
