F1 Brazil Grand Prix live updates: Qualifying latest after Norris wins sprint race ahead of Antonelli, Piastri crashes out – 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.
Mercedes pair Kimi Antonelli and George Russell completed the podium while Max Verstappen had to settle for P4.
Qualifying for tomorrow's Grand Prix is up next.
GO FURTHER
Lando Norris extends F1 title lead with Brazilian sprint win as Piastri crashes out
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.”
This is now Lando Norris' biggest lead of the season atop the Drivers' Championship leaderboard — his sprint win means he is nine points clear of McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri and 39 clear of Max Verstappen in third.
Very encouraging signs for Mercedes from that sprint race, with Kimi Antonelli and George Russell securing P2 and P3. After saying he was glad to see that Bortoleto was okay, Mercedes principal Toto Wolff discussed his team's performance with Sky Sports.
💬 “I liked it. We had good pace, Kimi was able to stay in the gear box with Norris which you don't see very often. The car had pace and clearly second fastest, if not fastest if he was ahead.
“They were really fair at the beginning; George gave Kimi space. I think Kimi was just very good today. I think if it was reversed and George was ahead, he would've also had a lot of pace because the car seems to be good.”
Some good news from Sauber on Gabriel Bortoleto after that massive crash at Turn 1 — here is what they had to say about the Brazilian driver.
💬 “Following precautionary checks at the circuit’s Medical Centre, we are pleased to report that Gabriel Bortoleto is ok and uninjured.
“The team would like to thank the circuit marshals, F1 and the FIA and the Medical Centre staff for their superb care. The team will now focus on preparing the cars for this afternoon’s qualifying session.”
Max Verstappen has made it abundantly clear that he isn't happy with his Red Bull today. Speaking to Sky Sports after the sprint, he discussed the changes that the team need to make ahead of this afternoon's qualifying session.
💬 “We will make some changes and hopefully that will bring it in a better window, and hopefully that will allow us to push a little bit better on the tires.
“To be honest, I'm in no man's land because I can't really stay with the guys head. On the other hand, if we find a bit more then maybe I can fight with Mercedes.”
McLaren F1 chief Andrea Stella isn’t dwelling on Oscar Piastri’s Interlagos sprint race crash, putting it down as “just an episode” and backing his driver to bounce back later in qualifying.
Piastri crashed on Lap 6 of Saturday’s sprint after touching a damp curb at Turn 3, with Nico Hulkenberg and Franco Colapinto also going off at the same corner moments later.
It allowed McLaren teammate Lando Norris to move nine points clear at the top of the world championship with the win, capitalizing on Piastri’s failure to score.
Stella told Sky Sports that he had “mixed feelings” about the sprint result, saying it was “unfortunate” that Piastri had crashed out.
“Mixed conditions, tricky conditions, you put a wheel too far, and we saw three cars on the same lap crash in the same point,” Stella said. “It’s just an episode. Oscar has been fast this weekend, so we look now forward to reorganizing, regrouping, repair the car, the big points are tomorrow, and capitalize on the speed in qualifying and then tomorrow with Oscar.”
Asked if he was confident Piastri could quickly put the crash behind him, Stella replied: “100%. He’s a very functional mind, and that certainly the conversation we are going to have.
“The most important point is that the speed is there. It’s an episode where you put a wheel on a curb and you lose it. it’s just an episode.”
A real test for Oscar Piastri for the rest of this weekend — he was asked in his post-race interview with Sky Sports how he regroups ahead of this afternoon's qualifying session.
💬 “Just to try to push this behind me, I guess. We'll see what weather we've got for this afternoon and there are obviously a lot more points on offer tomorrow. The better job I can do this afternoon of trying to give myself a good starting spot, the better it will be.”
While the sprint race doesn't quite have the same bounty on offer as the Grand Prix, that is a pretty disastrous start to a big day for Oscar Piastri.
He came off the track in the eighth lap, went into the barriers and has taken zero points from the race to open the gap between him and teammate Lando Norris to nine points.
The damage to his car thankfully shouldn't rule him out of qualifying, but it does place a much greater importance on his result in qualifying later on…
24 laps and 36 points that have been dished out — here are the eight drivers that got their hands on some vital sprint-race points:
It is very tight between Mercedes and Ferrari in the battle for second place in the Constructors' Championship, so that was a productive morning for the two Mercedes drivers — here is what George Russell had to say on track.
💬 “It was a good race for us both — Kimi did a great job and put Lando under a bit of pressure. P2 and P3 is a really good result, but we need to try to do the same this afternoon. Qualifying is so tight and it's very difficult to overtake at the moment, so that's going to be key.”
It has been a brilliant weekend for Kimi Antontelli so far as he finished second behind Championship leader Lando Norris in today's sprint — here is what he had to say afterwards.
💬 “It was a very fun race in very tricky conditions, especially at the beginning. We tried to keep the pressure on Lando and just came up short. It was a fun race.”
He was then asked how he is feeling ahead of qualifying this afternoon.
“Definitely confident, but the field is so tight. At the end yesterday, it was really hard to put a lap together so we'll see today. Hopefully we can achieve the same result or even better.”
Lando Norris secured pole position for the sprint and won it without being overtaken once, but that didn't tell the full story as he came under some pretty significant pressure from Kimi Antonelli towards the end — here is what the McLaren driver said on track afterwards.
💬 “It was tough. It makes the win a bit more rewarding when you have a race like this. Especially with Kimi here, he was not making my life easy!
“It was sketchy, I had a couple of little nerves and even with the wind it was tricky. Not an easy race, but probably the race you expect here in Brazil — always a difficult one.”
Only one Brazilian driver in the race this year, so the home fans will be devastated to have seen his car go careering into the barriers as he crossed the line ahead of the final lap.
It was a horrible crash for Bortoleto with his car leaving the track before smashing into the barriers, so thankfully he was able to confirm that he was okay and there were no effects on the other drivers.
As I mentioned a moment ago, a huge job faces the Sauber mechanics to try to get him ready for qualification later on.
A very, very important win for Lando Norris, That inflicts maximum damage on Oscar Piastri after his early crash, pulling nine points clear at the top.
It's the biggest championship lead Norris has had at any point this season. Previous best was an eight-point buffer after China.
Lando Norris' weekend at Interlagos just keeps getting better! The Championship leader took pole for the sprint and stayed in P1 throughout to take the full eight points.
The rest of the podium was all Mercedes with Kimi Antonelli in P2 and George Russell in P3.
There was a really nasty crash for home favorite Gabriel Bortoleto in that final lap, but he has confirmed over the radio that he is okay. A huge job for Sauber to get his car ready for qualification in a few hours' time.
LAP 24/24 — This has been great defense from Norris on the worn soft tires — the mark of a champion?
As the two leaders crossed the line for the final lap, the McLaren led by almost seven tenths so it looks like he will on for full points in this sprint race.

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