The sprint qualification marked the continuation of the program of the Brazilian Grand Prix, whose big winner was ultimately Oscar Piastri.
The first laps of SQ1 unfolded in an interesting manner, and it was already possible to guess that there could be real fireworks in store during this stage: on a constantly improving track, we saw Liam Lawson in the lead, then Oscar Piastri, and finally Lando Norris won this phase ahead of his teammate and Alexander Albon. Among the eliminated were the two Aston Martins, Yuki Tsunoda, Guanyu Zhou, and Esteban Ocon.
In SQ2, Norris once again led the way, followed by Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen, leaving no doubt about the top three. Behind them, however, almost anything could happen, no matter how it unfolded. Who would have thought, for example, that Oliver Bearman, Kevin Magnussen's replacement due to illness, would easily advance to SQ3? We're not surprised, however, by Sergio Perez's elimination; it was a much bigger shock than the quiet elimination of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Hulkenberg—given that their teammates both advanced—while Franco Collapinto and Valtteri Bottas were unable to continue competing.
In the final phase of the sprint qualifying, the battle was now fought on soft tyres, and the balance of power was reversed: Oscar Piastri was the fastest, and by beating Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc, he will start from first place on the grid for the sprint race of the Brazilian Grand Prix.
