Sprint qualifying at Interlagos delivered another close battle at the front. Lando Norris secured pole with a 1:09.243, just 0.097 seconds ahead of Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who continued his strong rookie campaign for Mercedes. Oscar Piastri secured third, keeping both McLarens firmly in the fight for maximum sprint points.
Max Verstappen showed strong early pace, producing the quickest first sector of the session, but his final execution fell short and he ended sixth behind George Russell and Fernando Alonso.
Aston Martin delivered one of the surprises of the afternoon with both cars making SQ3. Alonso took fifth after topping SQ2, and Lance Stroll delivered a tidy seventh.
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Tsunoda eliminated after grip issues and lost practice time
Yuki Tsunoda’s session unravelled before it truly began. After losing half of FP1 due to a crash, he entered SQ1 with limited track time and struggled immediately with grip.
His first medium-tyre lap left him last, 1.246 seconds slower than Verstappen’s opening run on the same compound. After returning to the pits, he tried again on the same tyres, improved, yet fell short of advancing by 0.251 seconds. He finished 18th, only 0.026 seconds behind Liam Lawson.
At one point, Tsunoda’s radio message summed up the situation:
“I have no grip at all.”
Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies addressed the early exit:
“He has now paid the price for the track time he lost in free practice this morning. Limited running reduces a driver’s confidence and as a result makes it more difficult to conclude a clean session.”
Tsunoda faces a demanding turnaround with the sprint, full qualifying, and the Grand Prix still ahead.
Ferrari continues to struggle
Ferrari’s weekend remained difficult. Lewis Hamilton missed the cut in SQ2, finishing 11th. Charles Leclerc spun at the end of SQ2 at the moment the chequered flag appeared, triggering double yellows that disrupted several laps.
Leclerc advanced to SQ3 but could do no better than eighth. Isaac Hajar and Nico Hulkenberg completed the top ten.
A midfield separated by fractions
The fight for SQ3 was one of the tightest of the season. Just 0.120 seconds separated ninth-placed Leclerc from 13th-placed Pierre Gasly. Alex Albon slotted in between them in 12th.
Franco Colapinto received a spotlight before the session after Alpine confirmed he will remain for 2026, but he finished 16th after struggling to extract performance early.
Carlos Sainz, still recovering from illness, locked up at Turn 1 on his final attempt and ended the day 20th. Esteban Ocon was 19th for Haas.
Sprint race awaits
The sprint formation lap begins at 26:00 on Sunday, November 9 (Japan time), with 24 laps ahead and championship points on the line. With Norris, Antonelli and Piastri at the front and Verstappen starting sixth, the title race continues to tighten as the season approaches its final stages.
