Norris starts the São Paulo sprint from first place
Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen has to start the final sprint race of the season from second place. The 26-year-old Dutchman was 61 thousandths of a second slower in the Red Bull than 23-year-old Lando Norris in the McLaren during sprint qualifying in São Paulo.
Sergio Pérez from Mexico finished third in the second Red Bull on the Interlagos circuit in sunny, summer temperatures. Sprint and Grand Prix winner George Russell from Great Britain finished fourth ahead of his Mercedes team-mate and compatriot Lewis Hamilton. Nico Hülkenberg from Emmerich finished twelfth in the Haas. The sprint starts at 19:30 CET (Sky) and runs over 24 laps, or 100 kilometers.
Sprint qualifying briefly interrupted after crash
Sprint qualifying was interrupted for several minutes due to a crash involving Esteban Ocon. As the Frenchman was on a fast lap, he touched the much slower Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso with his Alpine racing car at high speed. Nothing happened to either driver, but the tire stacks into which Ocon's car had crashed had to be repaired. "It's one of those incidents that happens," said Alonso.
Verstappen had already secured pole position for this Sunday's Grand Prix (18:00 CET/Sky) on Friday. The Grand Prix weekend in Brazil is the sixth and last this year with the additional decision in the sprint.
Source: www.dpa.com
