General
It's lights out for the Sao Paulo sprint!
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) November 2, 2024
Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris lead the way pic.twitter.com/AcyGBRUTN2
Verstappen locks up when attacking Norris at the first corner in the sprint
Max Verstappen tried to attack at the start but couldn't get close enough to make the move on Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc closed the door at turn two. The Dutchman had to lock up. The two McLaren's broke away immediately, and Oscar Piastri created a half-a-second gap on his teammate.
Oscar Piastri qualified on pole position for the sprint race. Lando Norris joined the Australian on the front row of the grid. Norris started ahead of Verstappen on Saturday, as the Dutchman finished in P4 in qualifying. Carlos Sainz qualified in P5 ahead of George Russell. Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton failed to reach the top ten in qualifying. Zhou, Stroll and Alonso started from the pitlane due to changes made to their cars. The top six started on used medium tyres.
Verstappen has continued to attack Leclerc for third-place in the opening laps of the sprint in Brazil. Verstappen was told over the radio to be calm and take his time. Lewis Hamilton lost places at the start of the race and dropped down to P14. Perez found himself in 11th after three laps.