2025 São Paulo Grand Prix – McLAREN Sprint and GP Qualifying report “We’ve been on very good form today, and the team are giving me a great car”

Autódromo José Carlos Pace, Saturday, 8 November

Hear from McLaren Formula 1 drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Team Principal Andrea Stella, after Sprint and GP Qualifying for the São Paulo Grand Prix.

Lando quote banner
Started 1st  
Finished 1st  
Q1 1m09.656s (Soft) 1st
Q2 1m09.616s (Soft) 1st
Q3 1m09.511s (Soft) 1st

“It’s been good fun today despite the tricky conditions. The track is slippery and inconsistent – but it’s still a pleasure to drive at Interlagos and a great start to the weekend by winning the Sprint. We’ve been on very good form today, and the team are giving me a great car, so thank you to everyone at McLaren. I put myself under a bit of pressure in Q3 by locking-up at the first corner, which made things a little bit more stressful than I would have liked, but I stayed calm and put it together when it mattered. 

“As for tomorrow, we don’t know what the weather is going to do, but we do know the competition is very quick. Big challenge ahead, but one we'll prepare for overnight and just focus on delivering the best possible performance."

Oscar quote banner
Started 3rd  
Finished DNF  
Q1 1m09.928s (Soft) 4th
Q2 1m09.835s (Soft) 5th
Q3 1m09.886s (Soft) 4th

"Not quite the day I was looking for. There were very tricky conditions in both the Sprint and Quali and we didn't know how the grip was going to be. Unfortunately, I’ve paid the price for that. The car's been quick all weekend, so hopefully we can take advantage of it tomorrow and finish at the top."

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The Champions Collection

Andrea Stella

“A positive day overall, even if we do have one regret. Lando continued his excellent weekend, first winning a very complicated Sprint given the track conditions and then taking Pole position in a Qualifying session where the wind made conditions tricky. The regret is linked to Oscar missing points in the Sprint, after demonstrating strong pace, but he has already put that behind him in Qualifying and will be pushing hard in the race.  

“Tomorrow, it will be important to execute everything perfectly: strategy, pit stops, tyre management and all the changes in weather conditions that may occur. Today, we saw once again that there is a very tight competition and let’s not forget that on this track everything can happen: last year’s race winner started from 17th position on the grid. So, we will have to pay attention to every detail and stay focused at all times to exploit the potential we have at our disposal.”