Lando Norris continued his perfect Sao Paulo Grand Prix weekend with pole position in qualifying for Sunday’s race, with title rival Oscar Piastri fourth on the starting grid.

Max Verstappen will start just 16th after a shock knockout in the first Q1 stage, with a car that had “no grip”. The result means that he can “forget about” winning this year’s title, said Verstappen — although he did win last year from 17th on the grid.

Norris had topped the timesheets in practice and sprint qualifying, then won the sprint race, where Piastri crashed out. Now he’s in prime position to maximise his gains when he starts at the front at Interlagos.

He’ll be alongside Kimi Antonelli, who said he was annoyed not to have beaten Norris, having also started second in the sprint. They are followed by Charles Leclerc and Piastri, then Isack Hadjar and George Russell on the third row.

Scroll down or click to see how the grid will look when it lines up for the 21st round of the season, which is due to start at 5pm BST (2pm local time).

Not a single F1 world champion made it into the final Q3 stage of qualifying: Verstappen was knocked out in Q1 after car set-up changes to improve grip had the opposite effect, and he was followed out in Q2 by Lewis Hamilton, 13th on the grid, who also complained of a lack of rear grip.

Another Q2 departure was Fernando Alonso, who’d finished sixth in the sprint race, but couldn’t coax enough performance out of his soft tyres in qualifying. He starts 11th.

It meant that Q3 was more varied than usual, with drivers from seven different teams making up the top ten.

Ollie Bearman continued a strong series of performances in Brazil with an eighth-place grid slot, behind both Racing Bulls: Hadjar is fifth and Liam Lawson seventh.

Pierre Gasly has been unusually competitive for Alpine at Interlagos and starts ninth, ahead of Nico Hülkenberg, whose Sauber team-mate Gabriel Bortoleto didn’t make it out in time for a timed run.

That was the result of a colossal crash at the end of the sprint race, which couldn’t quite be repaired in time. The home hero had to soak up the appreciation from the crowd in his garage during qualifying and will start last.

Below is the provisional starting grid. This could change ahead of the race if further penalties are applied or a driver needs to start from the pitlane.

2025 Sao Paulo Grand Prix starting grid

1	Lando Norris McLaren 1min 09.511sec Q3		2	Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1min 09.685sec Q3
3	Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1min 09.805sec Q3		4	Oscar Piastri McLaren 1min 09.886sec Q3
5	Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 1min 09.931sec Q3		6	George Russell Mercedes 1min 09.942sec Q3
7	Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1min 09.962sec Q3		8	Oliver Bearman Haas 1min 09.977sec Q3
9	Pierre Gasly Alpine 1min 10.002sec Q3		10	Nico Hülkenberg Sauber 1min 10.039sec Q3
11	Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1min 10.011sec Q2		12	Alex Albon Williams 1min 10.053sec Q2
13	Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1min 10.100sec Q2		14	Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1min 10.472sec Q2
15	Carlos Sainz Williams 1min 10.472sec Q2		16	Max Verstappen Red Bull 1min 10.403sec Q1
17	Esteban Ocon Haas 1min 10.438sec Q1		18	Francio Colapinto Alpine 1min 10.632sec Q1
19	Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull 1min 10.711sec Q1		20	Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber No time set Q1