An exhilarated Lando Norris will start on pole position for the 2025 Sao Paulo Grand Prix sprint race, giving him an early advantage this weekend over title rivals Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen who are third and sixth on the starting grid respectively.

Following victory in Mexico, the championship leader outshone both challengers in sprint qualifying last night, ahead of a day that could be shaped by stormy weather. This could have an impact on this afternoon’s sprint, as well as the day’s subsequent qualifying session.

Mercedes‘ Kimi Antonelli will start second on the grid, with a lap that was just under a tenth of a second slower than Norris’s

Scroll down or click to see how the grid will look when it lines up for the fifth sprint race of the season, which — if weather conditions allow — will start at 2pm BST (11am local time). Qualifying for Sunday’s Grand Prix takes place on Saturday evening, at 6pm BST, 3pm local time.

“We did the job we needed to do to be fastest today,” said Norris. “[It was] trickier than Mexico. [I’ve] not been feeling quite as comfortable, therefore it’s a great result.”

Norris would have topped each of the three stages of qualifying were it not for a surprise effort from Fernando Alonso in Q2 to top the timesheets. His effort would have put him second on the grid in Q3 but the Aston Martin driver couldn’t go quite as fast in the final stage and will start fifth, behind George Russell.

Lance Stroll confirmed Aston Martin’s pace in Brazil with a seventh-placed grid slot, ahead of Ferrari‘s Charles Leclerc, whose team-mate Lewis Hamilton failed to make it out of Q2 and will start 11th.

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 sprint race starting grid

1	Lando Norris McLaren 1min 09.243sec SQ3		2	Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1min 09.340sec SQ3
3	Oscar Piastri McLaren 1min 09.428sec SQ3		4	George Russell Mercedes 1min 09.495sec SQ3
5	Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1min 09.496sec SQ3		6	Max Verstappen Red Bull 1min 09.580sec SQ3
7	Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1min 09.671sec SQ3		8	Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1min 09.725sec SQ3
9	Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 1min 09.775sec SQ3		10	Nico Hülkenberg Sauber 1min 09.935sec SQ3
11	Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1min 09.811sec SQ2		12	Alex Albon Williams 1min 09.813sec SQ2
13	Pierre Gasly Alpine 1min 09.852sec SQ2		14	Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber 1min 09.923sec SQ1
15	Oliver Bearman Haas 1min 09.946sec SQ2		16	Franco Colapinto Alpine 1min 10.441sec SQ1
17	Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1min 10.666sec SQ1		18	Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull 1min 10.692sec SQ1
19	Esteban Ocon Haas 1min 10.872sec SQ1		20	Carlos Sainz Williams 1min 11.120sec SQ1