Sprint Qualifying Highlights | 2024 Sao Paulo Grand Prix

It's going to be a great lap for Molly Behrmann. He was only a tenth and a half off of Piastri coming out of that second sector. So it's all horsepower up the hill. What can the Supersub do across the line? Fifth fastest for Oliver Behrmann. He's getting another appearance that he wouldn't have expected. And he's ahead of Hülkenberg as Gasly improves. Stroll is out. Ocon needs a time. You've got the two salvers down there. And what has happened to Franco Colapinto? He is on for a personal best in the first sector. His session is not done yet. And at the front of the field, Lando Norris going very, very quickly. Bottas finds a time when he needs to. Ocon is out along with Tsunoda, Stroll and Joe. Here is Lando Norris to go top of the page by a distance. And now the fan favorite, Franco Colapinto, finding his best effort. And now he goes across the line, flat to the floor. His teammates just gone into third position. Can Franco make it to the delight of the crowd? He can! Ninth position for Colapinto. And Alonso falls. He's the shock name in the first part of Sprint Qualifying. Out along with Ocon, Tsunoda, Stroll and Joe. Climbing the hill, looking for a way through, looking for an improvement. We've got Hülkenberg going to ninth. Good luck from him. What about Oliver Behrmann? Can he join his teammates? He's up to fifth. He has found a superb time when it matters most. And he just loves turning up and providing the unexpected results. Perez is into eleventh at the moment. Hamilton is in twelfth. Colapinto is in the pits. He is out. It's then Bottas and we need to see what Liam Lawson is going to do. Liam Lawson is going to take it to P9 at the moment. Albon remains in the pits as well. He's the driver at risk and we do see an improvement. First sector, second sector for Pierre Gasly. Piastri has the fastest middle sector of the session so far. Checkered flag is out. No, we're not going to make it. It's like Fox. Perez finding himself eliminated. Good lap time there when it counted. Piastri makes it a McLaren 1-2. They are looking so good around this circuit. On board with Lewis Hamilton. This is do or die for Lewis Hamilton as Charles Leclerc moves up into the top three. Sitting 13th right now on the outside, looking in. Personal best through sectors one and two. This should be good. Bottas improves his time and not his position. Hamilton across the line, only 11th. And in a circuit he has adored through the years. Hamilton finds himself as the shock in SQ2. Hamilton out along with Hülkenberg. Perez in 13th. Colopinto in 14th. And Bottas did well to even make it into this part of the session. But he's out in 15th place. It's an interesting intra-team battle right now. Sector one going to Norris. But the micro sectors are looking like Piastri might be stronger in sector two. It's going to be close between the two. But a little bit of a moment there for Piastri off the line. So this is going to be really important that Oskar Piastri is up there along with Lando Norris. If this points battle is going to go McLaren's way in the Constructors' Championship. And if Lando Norris is going to have any chance of overhauling the 47-point gap that he's got to Max Verstappen in the drivers. Let's see how it stacks up on the board. Time to beat for everyone else is a 1.8928. Norris ahead of Piastri by very nearly three-tenths of a second. Gasly has done a strong lap time to go third. It's ahead of Behrmann. It's ahead of Albon. And now we move to the Ferraris. Carlos Sainz out on the racetrack. He's going to be the first Ferrari to cut the beam and set a time. It's Ferrari versus McLaren in the Constructors' Championship. Lawson goes ahead of Albon. And Behrmann's time has been deleted for track limits as Sainz goes into third position. Next up will be Max Verstappen about to start his lap. And then to complete his is Charles Leclerc who splits the McLarens with the fastest final sector of the session so far. But Piastri is going to come back now, climb the hill once again, and he'll want that position back. He'll want more than that. He'll want to improve past Lando Norris. Piastri with the fastest middle sector so far. The nine-time podium finisher across the line to the fastest time by two hundredths of a second. What can Max Verstappen do? Green in sector one, not as quick. Piastri has the quickest in the middle sector right now. This is where Max has been losing out to the McLaren. So if he's already behind, I don't think he's going to be a threat for the front row. And Lando Norris is not lighting up the timing page. He will be beaten by his teammate. The only McLaren driver to win a sprint race is the lead one on the grid at the moment. This is a crucial couple of moments for Max Verstappen. He roars through the corners. The wind gusting, the DRS open. Where can Max Verstappen go in relation to everyone else? The answer is the fourth position behind Charles Leclerc, behind his championship rival Lando Norris. And maybe, let's see what George Russell can do. He can't inflict more pain on the World Championship leader. He's gone into sixth position. And it's Oskar Piastri waiting to see whether anyone can improve. McLaren getting used to this, but Oskar Piastri delivers. Oskar Piastri has never taken a Grand Prix pole, but he will start for the second time in his Formula 1 career. The sprint from the front of the field. He's beaten his teammate by two hundredths of a second. That is everyone. Oskar, you are P1. Good job, mate. Woo! Nice. A late twist and a late improvement for Oskar Piastri puts him on sprint pole. So McLaren 1-2 as they lock out the front row.