Grand Prix qualifying for Round 21 of the 2025 F1 championship is completed, view the full report and results from the São Paulo GP session here. Lando Norris won the Sprint earlier in the day as Oscar Piastri and multiple other drivers found the hedge in it.
Q1
Ollie Bearman logged the first time of qualifying for the F1 São Paulo GP, doing a 1:10.664. Lawson beat that soon after by a tenth.
Down at turn 1, Oscar Piastri and Lewis Hamilton both went deep. The Australian carried on but was 1.3s away from the Kiwi.
After Lando Norris did a 1:10.404 for P1, fellow Brit Lewis Hamilton clocked a 1:10.233 to go fastest. Hülkenberg, Lawson, Bearman, Verstappen, Albon, Leclerc, Ocon and Stroll completed the top 10 after six minutes. The Monegasque and Canadian were on mediums, as was Alonso in P11.
Kimi Antonelli went top, before a stonking 1:09.891 from Ollie Bearman put him 0.301s clear of the Italian. He was the first driver below the 70s mark. The Astons vaulted up to P4 and P5, with Gasly splitting the Haas and Mercedes cars. That was until Oscar Piastri put it P2 with 8 minutes left.
Bearman, Piastri, Albon, Gasly and Antonelli sat in the top 5. Norris was P9, and Verstappen was P16 with 7 minutes to go.
On his second push lap, the Dutchman had a huge moment in turn 9 as he lost the car, had a massive snap of oversteer and lost over half a second. Colapinto, Ocon, Tsunoda and Bortoleto were also in the relegation zone with 2 minutes left.
Unbelievably, despite improving a small bit at the end, Max Verstappen could only managing 16th, meaning he was out in Q1 for the first time since Sochi 2021. Ocon, Colapinto and Tsunoda also got knocked out.
Despite a heroic effort from the Sauber crew, Gabriel Bortoleto failed to make it out following his enormous crash in the Sprint caused significant car damage.
Stand out laps came from Pierre Gasly and Ollie Bearman in P2 and P3 as Lando Norris was fastest once again on a 1:09.656.
Q2
Alex Albon was the first to clock a time in Q2, posting a 1:10.351.
After going purple in sector 1, Charles Leclerc had a big moment out of turn 4 with a snap. It forced him to abandon his lap. Out of Juncao, Pierre Gasly also had a huge slide on the rear and it meant a bad run to the line.
Out front, Ollie Bearman did a 1:09.755, beating former Prema teammate Antonelli by 0.019s. Piastri was also within a tenth. Russell, Norris and Lawson were separated by 0.070s as the three were all within 0.2s of the Haas. Hadjar, Alonso, Albon and Hamilton rounded out the top 10 before the final runs.
Gasly, Stroll, Leclerc, Hülkenberg and Sainz needed to improve.
Despite Ferrari’s struggles until that point, a monster lap from Charles Leclerc put him into P4. Pierre Gasly also strung a lap together to be a stunning P6. Arguably the best of the lot was Nico Hülkenberg, however. The German put his Sauber P10 to knock Fernando Alonso out.
Once again, Lewis Hamilton had a terrible qualifying, only managing P13. Albon was P12, with Stroll and Sainz behind the seven-time World Champion.
Norris ended up fastest for a second consecutive session, pumping in a 1:09.616.
Q3
The Haas of Ollie Bearman went first as he clocked a 1:09.977, a couple of tenths down on his Q2 effort. Leclerc bested that by 0.078s. However, it was Oscar Piastri leading the way after run 1, putting in a 1:09.897 to beat the Ferrari by 0.002s.
Championship leader Lando Norris had a massive lockup into turn 1, running horribly deep and losing well over half a second. Kimi Antonelli had a messy middle sector as well, dropping a chunk of time.
Piastri, Leclerc, Bearman, Antonelli, Russell, Gasly, Lawson, Hadjar, Hülkenberg and Norris was the order ahead of the last runs. 0.105s was covering the top 4.
A brilliant second lap from Charles Leclerc saw him reclaim P1 as he did a 1:09.804. However, a devastating middle sector from Lando Norris meant the McLaren clocked a 1:09.511. Right at the death Kimi Antonelli split them to be P2 in qualifying for a second straight day.
A poor middle sector from Oscar Piastri on his final run left him down in P4. Hadjar did an unbelievable lap to beat George Russell (mediums) to 5th. Lawson rounded out a great session for Racing Bulls with 7th.
Bearman could only manage P8 following a poor final run where he did not improve. Gasly and Hülkenberg will be on the fifth row.
