Sao Paulo Grand Prix: Lando Norris takes sprint pole with Oscar Piastri third in Interlagos
Hamilton also faces investigation for not slowing down sufficiently after yellow flags were waved when Leclerc lost control.
Norris finished first in all three sessions in sprint qualifying and held a comfortable advantage over Piastri throughout the entire session.
He said: “It was a little harder than I wanted. But we did the job we had to do, today was the fastest.”
“Qualifying is always one of the best things here. It’s tough, it’s up and down, it’s challenging, it’s always fun, it always puts a smile on your face.”
“But it’s a long weekend, a qualifying session and a few more races, but it’s a good start.”
Rain is expected in Sao Paulo on Saturday morning, where the sprint race will start at 14:00 GMT. Joining time for the Grand Prix is 18:00.
Piastri, who came to Brazil after two tough races in the USA and Mexico, said: “Soft [tyres mandated in the final session] It was a little different than I expected; There were a few big moments on my first tour and it wasn’t ideal either.
“It was a shame, but all in all I felt much happier than in the last few weeks. We can definitely fight with what we have and get a lot more points on Sunday.”
Verstappen complained to the team over the radio that his car was “undrivable”.
He added: “There is too much vibration in the car, too many handling problems. This is not what we want. But on top of that, there is no grip, we cannot turn the car, but at the same time we cannot trust the rear.”
“I’d say it’s pretty bad for us. It’s clear something is missing. I don’t expect it to be any better in the wet. But we’ll see tomorrow.”
