F1 Brazil Grand Prix live updates: Qualifying underway after Norris wins sprint race ahead of Mercedes pair – The New York Times

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The Formula One action continues today at the Brazil Grand Prix as qualifying takes center stage at Interlagos.
Drivers' Championship leader Lando Norris extended his lead to nine points with victory in the sprint race after McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri crashed out on Lap 6.
After a short delay, qualifying is underway.
GO FURTHER
Lando Norris extends F1 title lead with Brazilian sprint win as Piastri crashes out
Q1 14:30 — No messing about for Hulkenberg as he is straight into his work with a flying lap. The Sauber driver will have been worried about his readiness for this qualifying session after following Piastri into the barriers during the sprint race.
His teammate Bortoleto is still not in his car as the mechanics continue their work rebuilding it after a much worse crash.
Liam Lawson and Ollie Bearman — involved in a collision in the sprint — go fastest early in Q1 as Piastri puts down a very slow first flying lap indeed.
That won't help settle his nerves…
Q1 18:00 — The very short delay is over and Q1 on this Brazil Grand Prix weekend is underway!
Let's find out which five drivers we will be losing, shall we?
Only five drivers have finished on pole for a Grand Prix this season with 17 of the 20 poles split across three of them.
Max Verstappen leads the way ahead of the McLaren pair at the top of the Drivers' Championship.
Based on today's evidence in the sprint race, Kimi Antonelli has a good chance to add his name to that list this afternoon…
So that delay isn't a long one as the FIA confirm that qualifying will begin in just under five minutes' time.
A crucial few minutes for the mechanics in the Sauber garage as they continue to rebuild Gabriel Bortoleto's car…
After the concerns about the weather and cyclone warning, it's actually turned into a dry day at Interlagos. It is still quite overcast but plenty of patches of blue sky around.
Race control says there is a 20% chance of rain during qualifying.
We heard the news from Luke that Colapinto is ready to go for qualifying — the same cannot be said of Gabriel Bortoleto just yet.
The Brazilian was involved in a massive crash during the sprint race with his car leaving the track before slamming into the barriers as he crossed the line to start his final lap.
It looked unlikely at that point that they would be able to get him a car ready for this session, but the mechanics are still working hard in the Sauber garage to rebuild his car.
It would be a real shame if he cannot race in qualifying in front of his compatriots in his first-ever home race.
We've got a delay to the start of qualifying. The FIA says this is due to barrier repairs being completed at Turns 10 and 11.
Franco Colapinto's car is good to go after his crash in the sprint race. Alpine has changed the chassis and gearbox on the car, as well as fitting some old power unit elements, meaning there will be no penalties to serve.
It was a big, big hit at Turn 3, so a lot of work had to be completed.
Below, The Athletic goes behind the scenes of F1's TV broadcast nerve center to hear how messages are broadcast directly from the drivers during the heat of racing action — and why they don't like it.
Enjoy.
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F1 decides what driver radio clips you hear. The process is always changing
It has already been a day full of drama at this Brazil Grand Prix and there is plenty more racing to come!
Qualifying for tomorrow's race begins in a little over 20 minutes — at 1pm ET/6pm GMT.
Lando Norris is the man with the momentum having extended his Championship lead with victory in the sprint, and his teammate Oscar Piastri has a lot of work to do after crashing out earlier on.
And keep an eye on these Mercedes drivers; they looked very quick indeed in the sprint and look likely to challenge for pole.
Stick with us as we bring you all the action as it happens over the next couple of hours.
McLaren is willing to risk losing the Formula One drivers’ championship to Max Verstappen by sticking to its racing principles instead of “playing favorites” between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
McLaren has maintained a principle of giving equal opportunities instead of favoring a single driver, reminding some of when Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen beat McLarens Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton in 2007.
And, prior to this weekend's racing, McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown said: “In the event 2007 happens again, I’d rather have that outcome than all the other outcomes by playing favorites. We won’t do it. We’re racers, we’re going racing.
“We’re transparent. We’re fair. We communicate. We’re not perfect, but we’re racers, and they know that. So all this noise around, but we don’t let that noise come inside (McLaren).”
Less than an hour now to go until qualifying for tomorrow's Grand Prix from Interlagos.
There are a few mechanics hard at work in the pit lane after four pretty major crashes during the sprint earlier on — none more so than those in McLaren orange after Piastri's crash.
Ted Kravitz of Sky Sports' F1 team said on his post-sprint show that McLaren are confident of getting the car ready for the Australian to be back on track for qualifying.
We will, of course, bring you all the updates as they happen as we tick closer to the qualifying session.
That was the second time in a row that Oscar Piastri has been unable to finish a sprint race.
In the U.S. last month, he collided with Nico Hulkenberg and here in Brazil, he spun out and slammed into the barriers. While both costly, today's proved the most damaging as his teammate Lando Norris took full points to extend his lead.
With just three weekends left of the season after this one, it is becoming increasingly imperative that Piastri claws some points back from Norris in what remains of this weekend.
Fortunately for the Australian, there is only one more sprint left this year.
A really important morning for Lando Norris who, at his worst this season, was 36 points behind teammate Oscar Piastri. The Championship leader was obviously pleased with his victory but wasn't totally satisfied with the pace when he spoke to Sky Sports.
💬 “Our goal today was to try to win — of course very difficult conditions with the rain, the water, the wet track. Apart from that, the pace wasn't quite there. Obviously it was good enough to win but not good enough to do it comfortably.
“Mercedes were quick, they were quick yesterday and their pace transferred to today very well. We need to see what we can improve because they'll be a big threat tomorrow.”
George Russell cracked a joke in the post-sprint news conference about the water on the track behind Lando Norris after Oscar Piastri's crash.
"It felt a little bit like Mario Kart when you throw the banana out behind," Russell joked. "Smartest guy on the grid, this guy!”
A good sprint for Fernando Alonso who, after being overtaken immediately by Max Verstappen on the first lap, was able to limit the damage and managed P6 — here is what he had to say to Sky Sports.
💬 “Very tricky conditions. The start of the mini straight was super tricky for the whole race. Very weird asphalt at the moment, it's not drying in some of the straights.
“For us, it was a good sprint — we'll take the three points. We would probably like to be more competitive in qualifying conditions, but the car is feeling good and hopefully it stays like that this afternoon.”
Here is what our very own Jenny Catlin had to say about the track here in Sao Paulo…
📝 Interlagos is compact and kinetic: 4.309 kilometers, anti-clockwise, with that long uphill blast past the pits into the Senna S where most moves begin.
The lap works the car on cambers and elevation; two DRS runs set the stage, but rhythm through the infield decides who cashes out on the straight. History hums here.
Brazil joined the world championship calendar in 1973, and the place authored one of the sport’s cold-sweat finishes in 2008 when Lewis Hamilton took the title in the final corners.
Forecasts hint at São Paulo’s usual mood swings, scattered rain and thunderstorms, which is a neat segue to last year’s thunderclap: Verstappen stormed from P17 to win in the wet, a comeback which still rattles the pit lane.
Lewis Hamilton, who climbed from 11th into P6, was a little more upbeat than teammate Charles Leclerc but admitted the same issues with his Ferrari — here is what the seven-time champion said to Sky Sports.
💬 “I enjoyed the result in some tricky conditions. I moved forwards, I had a really good start and then the red flag kind of neutralized it because I had pretty decent pace until then.
“We do have problems with the balance of the car and our top speed is really slow, so that's why we can't overtake. We need to see how we can tackle that into qualifying.”
It wasn't a bad result for the two Ferraris in the sprint given their struggles in qualifying yesterday but, despite the fifth-placed finish, Charles Leclerc is not happy with his car. Here is what he said to Sky Sports.
💬 “This weekend has been very, very tough. Unfortunately we have an issue on both cars that we cannot quite explain. We are losing a lot of lap times on the straights and we've not got as high downforce as others.
“There is something off that I hope we can understand before qualifying. At the moment we are not where we want to be and I don't think it can be much worse than qualifying yesterday.”

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