Oscar Piastri pipped his McLaren team-mate Lando Norris to high dash qualifying at Components 1’s 2024 Brazilian Grand Prix, with Charles Leclerc third for Ferrari forward of Crimson Bull’s Max Verstappen.
The McLaren drivers dominated qualifying and took very completely different approaches to SQ3 in comparison with their rivals.
Elsewhere, there was a shock SQ2 exit for Lewis Hamilton, whereas Sergio Perez may solely take the modified chassis on his Crimson Bull RB20 to thirteenth and Oliver Bearman once more shone for Haas.
In SQ3, the McLarens got here out very early as soon as on the softs that they had all run for the opening two classes, with rain clouds steadily increase and observe temperatures plummeting.
However with softer softs for the 2024 occasion right here, the McLarens had no bother firing them up, nor holding them alive on the resurfaced observe.
Norris blasted to a 1m08.928s together with his first run, with Piastri trailing him earlier than they rapidly returned to the pits – within the former’s case for a entrance wing setting adjustment, whereas the latter went straight via – earlier than having one other try on the identical set of softs.
Piastri used his second try to go Norris by 0.029s with a 1m08.899s, with Norris abandoning his second go after producing a poor center sector in comparison with his first try.
The most effective of the single-effort runners in SQ3 was Leclerc, with Verstappen slotting in behind in fourth and Mexico winner Carlos Sainz fifth within the different Ferrari.
Then got here George Russell as the only real Mercedes runner in SQ3, as Pierre Gasly, Liam Lawson, Alex Albon and Bearman rounded out the highest 10.
Bearman might need carried out higher had he not had a giant second within the Senna S and gone so vast in Flip 2 that he had his time deleted for observe limits, earlier than staying on a lap that might not rely regardless of having time to again off and go once more, plus with the mushy tyres apparently able to doing a number of laps right here.
On the finish of SQ2 topped by Norris trying in dominant type at this stage, Bearman and Lawson bought via with only a single flying lap within the center phase in comparison with many of the relaxation, whereas Nico Hulkenberg solely had one shot too and he did not progress.
Hulkenberg was knocked out across the huge fallers in Hamilton and Perez, with Franco Colapinto and Valtteri Bottas additionally eradicated for Williams and Sauber respectively.
Perez’s exit got here after he failed to finish his last out-lap in time and so was ordered to park his automotive within the pits by Crimson Bull.
In SQ1, which Norris additionally topped, Colapinto’s last-gasp enchancment knocked out Alonso, who had beforehand jumped from the drop zone together with his second and last run on the mediums.
He was joined in exiting on the first hurdle by Esteban Ocon, Yuki Tsunoda and Lance Stroll, who all set private bests on their last fliers earlier than being shuffled again, plus Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu.
