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A late bid by Max Verstappen for a fifth driver’s world title suffered a setback on Friday when he qualified only sixth for Saturday’s sprint race at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The 28-year-old Dutchman, who said he needs four near-perfect weekends to overhaul McLaren driver Lando Norris’s 36-point advantage in the title race, grumbled about the balance and handling of his Red Bull.
Norris, who won last year’s sprint race in Brazil, topped the times to take pole for the sprint and, after taking a one-point lead in the title race ahead of McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri, seems to have seized the initiative again.
Piastri qualified third behind teenage rookie Kimi Antonelli in a Mercedes. The outcome left Verstappen frustrated.
“I’ve got a lot of vibration in the car and a lot of ride problems,” said Verstappen. “It’s not what we want, but besides that, we also just don’t have the grip, and the middle sector is terrible.
“I just can’t get the car to turn, but at the same time, I can’t really rely on the rears. So, for us, it’s quite poor,” he said before adding. “But it is what it is.”
Norris was satisfied with taking his first sprint pole of the season.
“It was a little bit tougher than I would’ve liked,” he admitted.
“But I think we did the job we needed to do, which was to be the fastest today. It’s trickier than Mexico and I’ve not been feeling quite as comfortable, but, therefore, it’s a great result for me.”
His team-mate and rival Piastri said: “I had a couple of big moments on my first lap, which wasn’t ideal.
“That was a bit of a shame, but ultimately I felt much happier today than during the last couple of weeks. It went well, I changed a couple of things, and ultimately I’m pretty happy.
“We can definitely fight with what we’ve got, and obviously, there are a lot more points on Sunday.”
Antonelli, who out-qualified team-mate George Russell and was only 0.097 seconds off Norris, was looking ahead to Saturday.
“We’re going to have to take care of the wind and expect quite different conditions,” he said.
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