2024 F1 Sao Paulo Grand Prix: Sprint Qualifying as it happened

That brings to a close on our qualifying coverage of Sprint Qualifying. 

We have an exciting race poised tomorrow! The sprint race takes place at 14:00 GMT. See you then!

Oscar Piastri pipped McLaren F1 teammate Lando Norris to pole position for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix sprint race.

Norris looked the heavy favourite for pole position throughout the three sessions in sprint qualifying.

After the first run in SQ3, Norris was nearly 0.3s clear of his teammate, with the McLarens going out first on the soft tyres.

Piastri returned to the track and put together a fine lap to topple Norris for pole for the sprint.

The good news for Norris is that F1 title rival Max Verstappen could only manage fourth.

Verstappen will start just behind Charles Leclerc, with just under a tenth between the pair.

Carlos Sainz secured fifth ahead of George Russell, while Pierre Gasy led the midfield in seventh for Alpine.

Liam Lawson’s impressive form continued with eighth ahead of Alex Albon and Ollie Bearman.

You can read our full report here. 

Here are the full qualifying results from sprint qualifying 

• 2024 F1 Sao Paulo Grand Prix - Sprint Qualifying Results

Wow! Norris sets the time for everyone else to beat by laying down a huge marker on his first lap of SQ3 on soft tyres. 

It's a 1:08.928s from Norris, who edges McLaren teammate Piastri by nearly three tenths. 

What have the others - including world championship leader Verstappen - got in response? 

Off track, Leclerc has been summoned to see the stewards as a result of swearing in the post-Mexico City Grand Prix FIA press conference. 

Verstappen, who was handed community service for swearing in an FIA press conference earlier this season, said on Thursday that he felt the clampdown on foul-language "only counts for me". 

Norris had the time to beat in SQ1 with a blistering lap that put him nearly eight-tenths clear of McLaren teammate Piastri. 

Albon was an impressive third ahead of Leclerc's Ferrari and the Red Bull pair of Perez and Verstappen. Bearman safely advanced in seventh having outpaced Haas teammate Hulkenberg. 

Seven-time world champion Hamilton was only 13th as the track ramped up late on but made it through to SQ2 comfortably. 

Those on the bubble of going out in SQ1 are Alonso, Bottas, Stroll, Zhou and Colapinto, who is yet to set a time. 

Piastri tops the timesheet in his McLaren early on in SQ1.  Leclerc is second for Ferrari, with Hulkenberg an eye-catching third in his Haas. 

Sainz is fourth, with Lawson setting a great lap to sit fifth in the RB. 

Verstappen is sixth, with Norris, the Mercedes duo of Russell and Hamilton, and Williams' Alex Albon completing the rest of the top 10 as it stands. 

There's still time for another run yet...

A reminder of how this all works. 

Just like regular grand prix qualifying, there are three sessions but they are slightly shorter than normal. SQ1 lasts 12 minutes, SQ2 is 10 minutes and SQ3 lasts just eight minutes. 

Medium tyres are mandatory for the first two sessions, before the field switches to softs for the pole position shootout. 

Reigning world champion Verstappen is undoubtedly the king of the F1 sprint format. 

Out of the four events so far this year in China, Miami, Austria and the United States, the Red Bull driver has taken three pole positions, and won all four races. 

Can he keep that impressive record up this weekend in Brazil? 

Hello and welcome back to our live coverage of the 2024 Sao Paulo Grand Prix. 

We have sprint qualifying coming up in half an hour - 18:30 GMT - to set the grid for Saturday's sprint race at Interlagos. 

We are off for a quick breather and coffee in between sessions but we will be back here to build up to Sprint Qualifying from 18:00 GMT. 

The shorter qualifying for the sprint race starts at 18:30 GMT. 

Lando Norris topped the timesheets in practice for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, 0.181s ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell.

Norris left it late to storm to the top of the timesheets with a 1m10.610s.

The McLaren driver will be keen to capitalise on Max Verstappen’s engine penalty this weekend, with the Dutchman hit with a five-place grid drop for a new ICE.

Russell was the first driver out there to go on the softs - and he ended up as Norris’ nearest challenger.

Both Russell and Lewis Hamilton complained about the bumpy nature of the Interlagos circuit, even though it’s been resurfaced.

Oliver Bearman was the star of the session, setting the third-fastest time for Haas.

You can read our full report here. 

1. Norris 
2. Russell 
3. Bearman 
4. Piastri 
5. Albon 
6. Leclerc 
7. Sainz 
8. Hulkenberg 
9. Alonso 
10. Gasly 

• 2024 F1 Sao Paulo Grand Prix - Friday Practice Results

  

There was an interesting radio message from Hamilton near the end of FP1, with the seven-time world champion asking his race engineer Peter 'Bono' Bonnington how long was left because he was in "a bit of pain". 

Teammate Russell then reported: "That was one bumpy ride. Wow."

It sounds like the bumps are playing havoc at Interlagos. 

Norris leaves it right until the end of FP1 to go fastest with a 1:10.610s. 

That puts the McLaren driver and title hopeful 0.181s quicker than Russell's Mercedes as the chequered flag falls to conclude the session. 

Bearman goes second-fastest on soft tyres to put his Haas just 0.014s behind Russell's Mercedes. 

Norris slots his McLaren into third, ahead of Albon, Sainz, Alonso, Leclerc, Lawson, Piastri and Gasly, who completes the top 10. 

Russell has strapped a pair of softs onto his Mercedes and goes clear by some margin at the top. 

As the first of the frontrunners to put the soft tyres on, he sets a 1:10.791s to go fastest by nearly a second over Red Bull's Verstappen. 

Hamilton has just improved to slot his Mercedes into P2, just 0.042s off Verstappen's benchmark and 0.052s ahead of teammate Russell. 

All three are on medium tyres for the time being, but the field should soon be switching onto soft compounds for some qualifying simulation runs.