During sprint qualifying at the Brazil Grand Prix, McLaren demonstrated remarkable speed through all three sessions.
While the majority of the field was running laps around in the 1:09 and 1:10 second mark, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri took it a step further.
Norris led initially with a swift 1m08.928s on his first run, closely followed by Piastri. On his second run, Norris decided to abandon his lap after a slower middle sector compared to his first attempt.
Meanwhile, Piastri capitalized on the opportunity, putting in a remarkable second run and setting a 1m08.899s, beating his teammate by a narrow margin of just 0.029 seconds.
This result is a significant boost for Piastri after two challenging weekends in Austin and Mexico, with the team focusing on a close battle with Ferrari for position in the constructors’ championship, as well as Norris’s fight with Verstappen in the drivers’ championship.
McLaren’s speed advantage in Brazil is partly due to the new rear wing introduced specifically for the Interlagos circuit. This new wing design incorporates a steep angle in the DRS zone, along with a redesigned central plate featuring a deep curve, enhancing top speed when the DRS is active.
These aerodynamic improvements have given McLaren a considerable edge on the straights, allowing them to maximize their qualifying performance.
Following the session, Piastri expressed his satisfaction with the result, acknowledging the session’s difficulty, saying : “Yeah, it was a tricky session, I felt pretty comfortable at the start, and then the grip was really coming up a lot through the session.
“With the track this year, it’s hard enough to see where you’re going, let alone try and do a fast lap, so it’s challenging out there, but I’m happy to have qualified on pole for the sprint.
“My first lap didn’t feel amazing, and I knew that there was a few places to improve, and yeah, the second lap was good, and the tyres hung on. So, no, very, very happy, and excited to be starting off P1.”
The 23-year-old from Melbourne confirmed on Sky Sports F1 he would give up the victory on Saturday afternoon if McLaren asked. Lando Norris has the team’s best shot at the Drivers’ Championship, sitting 47 points behind Max Verstappen in the standings.
Nonetheless, he would still like to take out P1 if he can show the pace required to prove he deserves it.
“Yes. I mean, I’ve said I would from when we first had these discussions.
“It would be nice to win, but it’s one point different and it’s not the main race. So, we’ll see.
“You know, Lando needs the points in the driver’s standings a lot more than I do. But of course, I still want to win.
“So if I put in the effort and have good pace, then I’m sure that won’t go unnoticed.
“But let’s see.”
