Oscar Piastri secured a stunning sprint pole position at the Brazilian Grand Prix as McLaren thrashed Max Verstappen .
Lando Norris looked to be the dominant driver in papaya, but it was Piastri who clinched the top spot at the last possible second in Sao Paulo.
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On the other hand, Verstappen struggled to match the pace of his rivals and only managed a P4 for Saturday's race.
Lewis Hamilton was eliminated early in SQ2 alongside Sergio Perez , who was knocked out due to a Red Bull blunder.
The seven-time champion failed to set a time quick enough to lift himself out of the drop zone, whereas Perez ran out of time to take the chequered flag and was unable to complete another lap in a woeful day for both drivers.
Here are the times from sprint qualifying in Sao Paulo.
Oscar Piastri clinched pole
F1 Sprint Qualifying Results: Brazilian Grand Prix 2024
1. Oscar Piastri [McLaren ] - 1:08.899
2. Lando Norris [McLaren] - +0.029
3. Charles Leclerc [Ferrari ] - +0.254
4. Max Verstappen [Red Bull] - +0.320
5. Carlos Sainz [Ferrari] - +0.358
6. George Russell [Mercedes ] - +0.544
7. Pierre Gasly [Alpine] - +0.723
8. Liam Lawson [VCARB] - +1.042
9. Alex Albon [Williams ] - +1.179
10. Ollie Bearman [Haas ] - NO TIME
ELIMINATED IN SQ2
11. Lewis Hamilton [Mercedes]
12. Nico Hulkenberg [Haas]
13. Sergio Perez [Red Bull]
14. Franco Colapinto [Williams]
15. Valtteri Bottas [Sauber]br>
ELIMINATED IN SQ1
16. Fernando Alonso [Aston Martin]
17. Esteban Ocon [Alpine]
18. Yuki Tsunoda [VCARB]
19. Lance Stroll [Aston Martin]
20. Zhou Guanyu [Sauber]
How does F1 Sprint Qualifying work?
The sprint qualifying session is split into three finite windows, which provide a dramatic prelude to Saturday's race.
The bottom five drivers are eliminated at the end of SQ1, with a further five eliminated after SQ2.
Then, SQ3 gives us a shootout between the remaining 10 drivers in the battle for positions at the front of the grid.
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