2024 Sao Paulo GP Sprint Qualifying: Oscar Piastri secures pole

Oscar Piastri claimed pole position for the Sprint at the 2024 São Paulo Grand Prix, edging out teammate Lando Norris to secure a McLaren front-row lockout. Despite leading much of Sprint Qualifying, Norris was narrowly beaten by Piastri, who snatched pole by just 0.029 seconds, marking his second Sprint pole position.

Charles Leclerc slotted into third, separating the McLarens from championship leader Max Verstappen, who ended up fourth, 0.320 seconds behind Piastri. Carlos Sainz took fifth, followed by Mercedes’ George Russell in sixth, with Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and RB’s Liam Lawson completing the top eight.

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In a surprise, both Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez were eliminated in SQ2. Meanwhile, young British driver Oliver Bearman made it to the final segment of Sprint Qualifying for Haas, stepping in for the unwell Kevin Magnussen at least through the first part of the weekend, later confrimed for the whole weekend.

Sao Paulo GP Sprint Qualifying Results

2024 Sao Paulo Grand Prix Sprint Qualifying, 1 November 2024

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Q1	Q2	Q3	Laps
1	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren Mercedes	1:10.265	1:09.239	1:08.899	16
2	4	Lando Norris	McLaren Mercedes	1:09.477	1:09.063	1:08.928	14
3	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:10.388	1:09.248	1:09.153	18
4	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	1:10.409	1:09.489	1:09.219	12
5	55	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	1:10.503	1:09.500	1:09.257	15
6	63	George Russell	Mercedes	1:10.479	1:09.683	1:09.443	15
7	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine Renault	1:10.630	1:09.610	1:09.622	15
8	30	Liam Lawson	RB Honda RBPT	1:10.576	1:09.827	1:09.941	11
9	23	Alexander Albon	Williams Mercedes	1:10.366	1:09.844	1:10.078	12
10	50	Oliver Bearman	Haas Ferrari	1:10.442	1:09.629	DNF	12
11	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:10.625	1:09.941		13
12	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas Ferrari	1:10.466	1:09.964		8
13	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	1:10.392	1:10.024		10
14	43	Franco Colapinto	Williams Mercedes	1:10.470	1:10.275		9
15	77	Valtteri Bottas	Kick Sauber Ferrari	1:10.861	1:10.595		12
16	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	1:10.978			6
17	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine Renault	1:11.052			6
18	22	Yuki Tsunoda	RB Honda RBPT	1:11.121			6
19	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	1:11.280			6
20	24	Zhou Guanyu	Kick Sauber Ferrari	1:12.978

Lando Norris topped the only practice session on Friday and led the times in both SQ1 and SQ2 on medium tyres, with McLaren’s new scooped rear wing seemingly boosting driver confidence through the challenging middle sector.

In SQ2, where drivers typically make a single run, McLaren opted to send their cars out early, possibly anticipating rain or the risk of yellow or red flags. Norris initially set a time nearly four-tenths faster than teammate Oscar Piastri, but Piastri went for another run and narrowly took pole by just 0.029 seconds.

Reigning world champion Max Verstappen, facing a five-place grid penalty for Sunday’s main race due to a new engine, wasn’t a top contender for pole but still managed to secure fourth. Charles Leclerc extracted maximum performance from his Ferrari to take third place.

Ferrari didn’t display the pace they showed in Mexico City last week; Carlos Sainz, the most recent race winner, settled for fifth. However, Ferrari could still be competitive if their tyre management proved strong.

2024 Sao Paulo Sprint Starting Grid

The Sprint starting grid, with or without penalties, after the 2024 Sao Paulo Grand Prix Sprint Qualifying session.

Pos	No	Driver	Car
1	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren Mercedes
2	4	Lando Norris	McLaren Mercedes
3	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari
4	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT
5	55	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari
6	63	George Russell	Mercedes
7	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine Renault
8	30	Liam Lawson	RB Honda RBPT
9	23	Alexander Albon	Williams Mercedes
10	50	Oliver Bearman	Haas Ferrari
11	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
12	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas Ferrari
13	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT
14	43	Franco Colapinto	Williams Mercedes
15	77	Valtteri Bottas	Kick Sauber Ferrari
16	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine Renault
17	22	Yuki Tsunoda	RB Honda RBPT
18	14	Fernando Alonso¹	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes
19	18	Lance Stroll¹	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes
20	24	Zhou Guanyu¹	Kick Sauber Ferrari

¹Alonso, Stroll and Zhou had to start from the pit lane after cars were modified under Parc Ferme conditions.

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Ben is a staff writer specialising in F1 from the 1990s to the modern era. Ben has been following Formula 1 since 1986 and is an avid researcher who loves understanding the technology that makes it one of the most exciting motorsport on the planet. He listens to podcasts about F1 on a daily basis, and enjoys reading books from the inspirational Adrian Newey to former F1 drivers.