F1 São Paulo Grand Prix qualifying highlights: Lando P1, Max exits in Q1

The Qualifying session for the 2025 Formula 1 São Paulo Grand Prix (held on the weekend of November 7-9, 2025) was highly dramatic and saw some major upsets. Lando Norris (McLaren) took Pole Position with a brilliant lap, continuing his strong form from the weekend's earlier Sprint Race which he also won. The front row was completed by Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) in a stunning performance for P2.

Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) secured P3 on the grid. Oscar Piastri (McLaren), Norris's main title rival, qualified P4. Racing Bulls had a phenomenal main Qualifying session, particularly when contrasted with the disaster experienced by their sister team, Red Bull. The team got both drivers into Q3 for the Grand Prix, securing excellent grid positions of P5 and P7.

Isack Hadjar split the two Mercedes cars, qualifying ahead of George Russell (P6). The biggest shock was the elimination of current World Champion Max Verstappen (Red Bull) in Q1, meaning he will start the Grand Prix from a shocking 16th position. Max Verstappen's Q1 exit was not just a simple mistake; he reported the car was "sliding around a lot" and had "no grip" due to significant setup changes made between the Sprint and Main Qualifying. The team's attempt to fix the car's handling after the Sprint went spectacularly wrong, leading to the early exit.

Seeing red

Not only did Verstappen go out in Q1, but his teammate Yuki Tsunoda also failed to make it out, qualifying 19th. This was a historic low for Red Bull, marking their first double Q1 elimination since the 2006 Japanese Grand Prix. Another big name to miss out on the top ten was Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari), who was eliminated in Q2 and will start P13.

Home hero Gabriel Bortoleto (Kick Sauber) was unable to take part in the main Qualifying session. He had a terrifying 57G crash during the earlier Sprint race (which ended under double yellow flags due to his incident), and while he walked away unscathed, the damage to his car was too extensive to be fixed in time for the main grid-setting session. He was therefore automatically P20.

For more updates, join/follow our WhatsApp, Telegram and YouTube channels