Lando Norris will start the sprint race on pole later this evening but will be closely pursued by the Red Bull duo of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.
George Russell and Lewis Hamilton showed good pace in SQ3 but were unable to break the top three and will start from fourth and fifth respectively.
AlphaTauri had a fine shootout too, with Yuki Tsunoda qualifying sixth and Daniel Ricciardo in eighth.
SQ1 was red-flagged after a huge Esteban Ocon crash with Fernando Alonso eventually saw both drivers out.
Ocon made contact with Alonso and appeared to place the blame firmly on the Spaniard for the incident in an angry radio message after the crash.
Haas duo Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg were eliminated in SQ2 along with Pierre Gasly and Valtteri Bottas. Alonso did not get on the track for the second session as Aston Martin worked to repair his car. Ocon, Lance Stroll, Zhou Guanyu, Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant were the five eliminated from the first session.
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F1 Sprint Shootout Results: Brazilian Grand Prix 2023
1. Lando Norris (McLaren): 1:10.622
2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull): +0.061s
3. Sergio Perez (Red Bull): +0.134s
4. George Russell (Mercedes): +0.235s
5. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes): +0.318s
6. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri): +0.397s
7. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari): +0.455s
8. Daniel Ricciardo (AlphaTauri): +0.500s
9. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari): +0.504s
10. Oscar Piastri (McLaren): +0.567s
ELIMINATED IN SQ2
11. Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
12. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)
13. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
14. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo)
15. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
ELIMINATED IN SQ1
16. Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
17. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
18. Zhou Guanyu (AlphaTauri)
19. Alex Albon (Williams)
20. Logan Sargeant (Williams)
How do F1 sprint shootouts work?
The 30-minute qualifying session is split into three finite windows which provides a dramatic prelude to the afternoon's short race.
The bottom five drivers are eliminated at the end of Q1, with a further five eliminated after Q2.
Then Q3 gives us a shootout between the remaining 10 drivers in the battle for positions at the front of the grid.
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