SAO PAULO — Lando Norris set up a chance to pad his one-point lead in Formula 1 by securing pole position for the sprint race at the Brazilian Grand Prix on Saturday.

Of his title rivals, McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri will start third and Red Bull's Max Verstappen will be sixth.

“It was difficult and we did a good job,” Norris said on Friday.

Norris is coming off a win in Mexico City and leads the driver standings by one point over Piastri. Verstappen was 36 points back.

For the sprint pole, Norris beat Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli by only 0.097 seconds and Piastri was just 0.185s behind.

“We did the job we needed to do which was to be fastest today,” Norris said.

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella was rapt with the results. Norris and Piastri were also 1-2 in the first practice

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