Norris looked strong throughout the session, setting a 1m09.243s to become the fifth different Sprint polesitter of 2025.

Antonelli underlined Mercedes’ strong pace in Brazil with an impressive lap just 0.097s slower, narrowly beating Piastri, who finished 0.185s behind his teammate.

Piastri had a slight moment on his opening banker lap in SQ3 that cost him time but recovered on his final push run to line up directly behind Norris for Saturday’s Sprint.

Norris said he was pleased with the performance and eager to convert it into victory.

“It was a little tougher than I would’ve liked,” Norris said after the session.

“We did the job we needed to do which was to be faster today.

“It was trickier than Mexico, I haven’t been feeling as comfortable so this is a great result.”

George Russell was fourth, just one hundredth of a second ahead of Fernando Alonso in fifth, while Sprint specialist Max Verstappen was unable to repeat his US Sprint qualifying heroics and will start sixth.

Lance Stroll made a rare appearance in SQ3 with an impressive seventh-place effort, ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who struggled for pace and suffered a spin in SQ2 and will start eighth. Isack Hadjar delivered another strong showing in ninth, just ahead of Nico Hulkenberg.

Lewis Hamilton was eliminated in SQ2 after missing the chance for an extra lap when the chequered flag fell.

Leclerc’s late spin in the session brought out double-waved yellows, preventing Hamilton and others from improving their times. The seven-time world champion will start 11th.

Joining Hamilton out in SQ2 were Alex Albon, Pierre Gasly, hometown hero Gabriel Bortoleto, and Oliver Bearman.

Earlier, SQ1 saw less than a second separate the top 16, with Yuki Tsunoda, Liam Lawson, and Carlos Sainz among the biggest names to fall.

Tsunoda struggled after limited track time in Friday’s practice, finishing 18th, just two places ahead of Sainz.

The Spaniard suffered a heavy lock-up at Turn 1 on his flying lap, losing crucial time, and will be disappointed after reaching the podium in the last Sprint race in the USA two rounds ago.

Lawson failed to match his teammate’s top-10 pace and will start 17th, one place behind newly re-signed Alpine driver Franco Colapinto, and two ahead of Esteban Ocon’s Haas, the other driver eliminated in SQ1.

Cars return to Interlagos for the Sprint at 11am local time Saturday (1am AEDT Sunday).