2025 São Paulo Grand Prix - Saturday

Sprint podiums and strong qualifying at the São Paulo Grand Prix

• Kimi Antonelli will start tomorrow’s São Paulo Grand Prix P2 with George Russell P6.
• That followed on from Kimi taking his first Sprint podium of his career, with George joining him in P3.
• Kimi becomes the third youngest driver to start a Grand Prix from the front-row.
• In a lively Sprint, both Kimi and George opted to start the race on the Soft compound tyre and held their respective starting positions of P2 and P4 in the early stages.
• A 20-minute red flag ensued though after Piastri, running P2, found the barrier and was joined by Hulkenberg and Colapinto.
• Switching tyre under the red flag, both Kimi and George took the Medium compound and harassed Lando Norris’ McLaren all the way to the flag.
• Despite getting within DRS range, Kimi had to settle for P2 and his first Sprint podium with George adding good points in P3.
• In qualifying, both cars made it through Q3 despite tricky and gusty conditions.
• Kimi's final effort put him P2 on the grid, just 0.174s shy of pole sitter Lando Norris.
• George, not feeling comfortable on the Soft compound, opted for the Medium tyre and qualified P6.

Kimi Antonelli

I am really happy to be starting on the front row for tomorrow’s race. Qualifying was not easy with a lot of unexpected wind gusts, but we managed to put everything together from Q1 to Q3. We were able to put the tyres in the right window, and we did a solid job as a team, putting a good lap together at the end when it mattered.

Throughout the weekend, I’ve been more and more comfortable with the car, and I’ve been enjoying racing on this track. The crowd is amazing here and it gives a lot of energy to perform at your best. The Sprint was exciting; I was pushing hard at the end using the Medium tyre to put Lando (Norris) under pressure. I got close but didn’t have enough speed to attempt an overtake. Nevertheless, that is a good sign for tomorrow’s race. I’m excited to be starting at the front, can hopefully fight the cars around us, and look to add some good points in our battle for P2 in the Constructors’ Championship.

George Russell

First of all, a huge congratulations to Kimi. He did a massive job out there and I’m really proud of him and the team. On my side, P6 is not where I wanted to be today. I struggled a lot to put the Soft tyres in the right window and couldn’t find the necessary grip to put a good lap together. With only one hour of practice yesterday and the changing weather conditions overnight, making both Soft and Medium tyres perform proved challenging.

Whilst starting from the third row is far from ideal, we are ahead of one Ferrari and both Red Bulls. That is very important in our fight for P2 in the Constructors’ Championship. We were able to add good points collectively as a team in this morning’s Sprint and will be looking to do the same in tomorrow’s Grand Prix.

Toto Wolff, Team Principal & CEO

That was a solid day in the office for us as a team. Kimi has performed strongly all weekend, despite this being his first time racing around here, and he maximised the result in both this morning’s Sprint and this afternoon’s qualifying. He was matching Lando (Norris) right up until the last corner on his final effort in Q3. There was, just like yesterday, a chance of him taking pole potentially but P2 is a good position to be starting from tomorrow.

For George, he has been struggling with a lack of grip and that showed itself particularly on the Soft compound tyre. We will see what we can do with the tools we have at our disposal to help him with that tomorrow. Starting P6, he will be looking to move forward and gain positions. Our pace in the Sprint offers hope that he can do that and that Kimi can be in the fight right at the front. The conditions are once again likely to change tomorrow though so we won’t take anything for granted.

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

The day got off to a good start with the Sprint race. We decided to go on the Soft tyre for the start line benefit, especially considering the slightly damp track. This decision worked out quite nicely with the subsequent red flag, allowing us to fit the Medium tyre and manage the rest of the race well from there. Putting both cars onto the Sprint race podium was a nice achievement this morning but our focus quickly shifted to preparing for qualifying.

With good pace on both single lap and long run, we headed into that session with confidence. Kimi had a solid hour from start to finish, and P2 is another very strong result. George struggled a bit with the Soft tyre on the other hand. We will have a look at the data overnight to understand the issue and solve the lack of comfort George has felt all weekend.

The starting grid should make tomorrow’s race interesting. George’s good pace this morning should help him progress to the front tomorrow. Kimi showed today that he can match Lando’s (Norris) pace and fight at the front. We’re studying all strategies available to put the field under some pressure tomorrow.