Oscar Piastri Claims Pole in Dramatic F1 Sprint Qualifying at Brazilian GP

In a thrilling sprint qualifying session at the 2024 Brazilian Grand Prix, McLaren‘s Oscar Piastri secured the pole position, edging out his teammate Lando Norris by a mere 0.029 seconds. Piastri set a lap time of 1:08.899 at the Interlagos circuit, which has been the only track to host a sprint every season since the format was introduced in 2021.

The session saw several high-profile drivers eliminated early. Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes and Sergio Perez of Red Bull were among those who failed to make it to the final segment, SQ3. Hamilton ended the session in 11th place, while Perez was 13th after running out of time to complete his final flying lap. Other notable drivers eliminated in SQ2 included Nico Hulkenberg of Haas, Franco Colapinto of Williams, and Valtteri Bottas of Sauber.

In SQ1, Aston Martin suffered a double setback with Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll both being knocked out. They were joined by Esteban Ocon of Alpine, Yuki Tsunoda of Red Bull, and Zhou Guanyu of Sauber, who all failed to advance to the next round.

Behind Piastri and Norris, Charles Leclerc of Ferrari took third place, followed by Max Verstappen of Red Bull in fourth and Carlos Sainz in fifth. George Russell of Mercedes, Pierre Gasly of Alpine, Liam Lawson of Red Bull, Alexander Albon of Williams, and Oliver Bearman of Haas rounded out the top 10.

The starting positions from this sprint qualifying session are crucial, as they will determine the grid for the sprint race, which offers valuable points that could significantly impact the championship standings.