Norris takes multiple poles at a circuit for the first time, Red Bull record their first double Q1 exit in over 19 years and no World Champions appear in Q3 for only the fourth time. Here are the facts and statistics from qualifying at the 2025 Sao Paulo Grand Prix!
NORRIS ON POLE AT THE 2025 SAO PAULO GRAND PRIX
Lando Norris secured pole position for the 2025 Sao Paulo Grand Prix, taking the 15th pole of his Formula 1 career. Interlagos is the first circuit at which Norris has secured multiple pole positions.
This was Norris’s sixth pole position of the season, putting him one away from equalling Max Verstappen for the most poles this season.
Norris’ two pole positions in the last two seasons remain the only times he’s qualified in the top five at Interlagos.
Norris now sits 24th in the all-time pole position list, one away from equalling Stirling Moss and Felipe Massa.
Norris’ pole sees Britain equal Brazil as the nation with the most pole positions at Interlagos.
IN THE TOP TEN
Kimi Antonelli recorded a career-best qualifying result at the 2025 Sao Paulo Grand Prix, setting the second fastest time in Q3. In doing so, Antonelli becomes the third-youngest front row starter at a Grand Prix. He sits behind Lance Stroll (at the 2017 Italian Grand Prix) and Max Verstappen (at the 2016 Belgian Grand Prix). He is only the fourth teenager to secure pole for an F1 race, after Verstappen, Stroll and Ricardo Rodriguez.
Antonelli out-qualified team-mate George Russell for only the third time in Grand Prix qualifying, having previously done so in Miami and Baku.
With Lando Norris taking pole and Oscar Piastri qualifying fourth, this was the first time that both McLaren drivers qualified in the top four in Sao Paulo since 2012.
Piastri remains yet to out-qualify Norris on any of his three Sao Paulo Grand Prix appearances. It was the first time he qualified in the top seven at Interlagos.
For the second year in a row, both Racing Bulls drivers qualified in the top seven at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Ollie Bearman qualified eighth for the 2025 Sao Paulo Grand Prix, equalling his best qualifying result of the season. He previously qualified eighth for the British and United States Grands Prix.
This was Bearman’s fourth consecutive Q3 appearance.
Pierre Gasly reached Q3, becoming the first Alpine driver to reach Q3 since the British Grand Prix ten races ago.
Nico Hulkenberg reached Q3 for the first time in 2025. It means that the drivers of the second car at Alpine – Jack Doohan and Franco Colapinto – are now the only drivers who have not reached Q3 so far this year.
This was the first Q3 appearance for a Sauber driver since the Italian Grand Prix. It was Hulkenberg’s first top ten qualification at Interlagos since 2017.
This was only the fourth Q3 session since the current qualifying format was introduced in which no previously-crowned World Champions competed. The previous times it happened was at the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix, the 2008 Australian Grand Prix and the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix.
Charles Leclerc, Oscar Piastri and Liam Lawson all maintained their 100% Q3 appearance rates at Interlagos. Kimi Antonelli and Isack Hadjar joined them in the club, of which Sebastien Bourdais is the only other member.
ELIMINATED IN Q2
Both Williams drivers exited in Q2 at the 2025 Sao Paulo Grand Prix. This was the first time since 2016 that neither Williams driver exited in Q1 at Interlagos.
With Lewis Hamilton out in Q2 and Max Verstappen exiting in Q1, this was only the second time since the start of Verstappen’s career in 2015 that neither driver reached Q3. The only other time it happened was also at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, in 2024.
Hamilton qualified 13th for the 2025 Sao Paulo Grand Prix, making him only the third Ferrari driver to miss out on a spot in Q3 in Interlagos, after Giancarlo Fisichella in 2009 and Carlos Sainz in 2024.
This was the first time since the six races at the start of the season that Aston Martin failed to reach Q3 at successive Grands Prix. It was the first time since 2019 that neither of the team’s drivers qualified in the top ten at Interlagos.
Alonso missed out on a Q3 appearance at Interlagos for the first time since the 2018 Brazilian Grand Prix.
OUT IN Q1
Both Max Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda were out in Q1 at the 2025 Sao Paulo Grand Prix. They recorded Red Bull’s first double Q1 exit in over 19 years, their only other double Q1 elimination having come at the 2006 Japanese Grand Prix.
Verstappen recorded the seventh Q1 exit of his career. It was his first since the 2021 Russian Grand Prix. This was the first time he qualified outside of the top eight this year.
2025 is the second year in a row that Verstappen failed to reach Q3 at Interlagos. He was out in Q2 last year. It’s also the second year in a row that neither Red Bull driver reached Q3 at the track.
In the 15 race weekends since the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Tsunoda has reached Q3 only three times. This was the fourth consecutive race at which he failed to do so, following a streak of three successive Q1 exits. This was his first Q1 exit since the Hungarian Grand Prix.
From his five appearances at Interlagos, this was the fourth time that Tsunoda failed to reach Q3 – and his third Q1 exit.
Red Bull had recorded only two Q1 exits at Interlagos prior to 2025 – their most recent being in 2009.
Franco Colapinto exited in Q1 for the sixth time in the last seven race weekends. He was also out in Q1 at last year’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Colapinto recorded the Enstone team’s first Q1 exit in Brazil since 2018.
Esteban Ocon recorded his sixth Q1 exit in the last eight rounds. This was Ocon’s first Q1 exit in Brazil since his maiden season in 2016.
Following a crash in the Sprint race, Gabriel Bortoleto was unable to set a lap time in Q1 at the 2025 Sao Paulo Grand Prix. He recorded a fourth consecutive Q1 elimination.
This was only the second time Bortoleto qualified 20th for a Grand Prix.