formula 1
Norris starts the São Paulo Sprint from first place
Lando Norris (l) was able to leave Max Verstappen behind in the sprint qualification. photo
© Marcelo Chello/AP/dpa
Lando Norris takes first place on the grid for the final sprint race of the Formula 1 season. Champion Max Verstappen comes second. Excitement is guaranteed.
Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen has to start the last sprint race of the season from second place. The 26-year-old Dutchman was 61 thousandths of a second slower in the Red Bull than the 23-year-old in the sprint qualification in São Paulo Lando Norris in the McLaren.
In third place on the Interlagos circuit in sunshine and summer temperatures, Sergio Pérez from Mexico drove the second Red Bull. Last year’s Sprint and Grand Prix winner George Russell from Great Britain took fourth place ahead of his Mercedes teammate and compatriot Lewis Hamilton. Nico Hülkenberg from Emmerich came in twelfth place in the Haas. The sprint starts at 7:30 p.m. CET (Sky) and runs over 24 laps or 100 kilometers.
Sprint qualification briefly interrupted after crash
The sprint qualification was interrupted for several minutes due to a crash involving Esteban Ocon. When the Frenchman was on a fast lap, he touched Fernando Alonso’s significantly slower Aston Martin with his Alpine racing car at high speed. Nothing happened to either driver, but the tire stacks that Ocon hit with his car had to be repaired. “It’s one of those incidents that happens,” Alonso said.
Verstappen had already secured pole position for the Grand Prix this Sunday (6 p.m. CET/Sky) on Friday. The Grand Prix weekend in Brazil is the sixth and last this year with the additional decision in the sprint.