Lando Norris upset the Red Bulls to claim P1 in the Sprint Shootout at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
After mistakes cost him on Friday, the Briton unleashed the pace of his McLaren to beat Max Verstappen by just 0.061s in a very tight session as Sergio Perez completed the top three.
SQ1
An eventful start to the Sprint Shootout saw a collision between Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso at Curva do Sol ending the first segment early.
The Spaniard was trying to stay out of the way but Ocon lost the rear on the kerb and clipped his former Alpine teammate, sending the Frenchman into the barriers.
Ocon would also be the first driver eliminated in 16th, with Lance Stroll the big loser in 17th after his heroics on Friday.
Zhou Guanyu was 18th as the two Williams’ brought up the rear with Alex Albon ahead of Logan Sargeant.
At the front, Carlos Sainz led Norris in a tight session which saw half a second cover the top 13 drivers.
SQ2
Despite a lengthy delay, Aston Martin was unable to repair Alonso’s car in time to take part in SQ2 leaving him 15th barring any penalties.
A flurry of final runs saw the two AlphaTauris jump into the top 10 at the expense of the Haas cars as Kevin Magnussen finished 11th and Nico Hulkenberg 12th.
Pierre Gasly sat 13th, ahead of Valtteri Bottas and the aforementioned Alonso.
A late lap from Lando Norris put the Briton in P1 by just 0.009s from Sergio Perez with Daniel Ricciardo a strong fourth.
SQ3
All teams decided to do just one run on soft tyres with Norris emerging on top on a 1m10.622s ahead of the two Red Bulls.
Verstappen took P2 ahead of teammate Perez and the two Mercedes’ of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton in fourth and fifth.
Yuki Tsunoda claimed a strong sixth, beating Charles Leclerc in seventh in the lead Ferrari.
Ricciardo was P8 as Sainz and Oscar Piastri completed the top 10.
