The Latest Breaking News from Red Bull Racing

Despite some entertainment in the Brazil sprint this weekend – especially in battles for midfield spots – there is a growing feeling that the current standalone Saturday format is not delivering what it should for F1.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen will start the race from pole position, with Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc joining him on the front row.

The reigning world champion was victorious in the Brazilian GP sprint race on Saturday, beating polesitter Lando Norris into Turn 1 before managing from the front to pick up his fourth sprint race triumph of the season. 

Following instances of drivers stopping on the exit of the pitlane in recent races, in response to a maximum lap time rule designed to minimise traffic during qualifying, the FIA elected to ban that practice on safety grounds and introduce new guidance for the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Verstappen grabbed a much stronger launch off the line when the lights went out, and took advantage of a passive Norris to thread his Red Bull down the inside.

Despite a first sector that was over two-tenths slower than the best efforts from the Red Bulls, Norris found time over the rest of the lap to clinch pole position for Saturday's shortened race - albeit with some evident bemusement after feeling that his lap was not particularly special.

The Sao Paulo skyline became increasingly heavy as dark clouds drew over the Interlagos circuit, prompting an early queue for laps as rain looked to be imminent in the opening phase of the session.

The Sao Paulo skyline became increasingly heavy as dark clouds drew over the Interlagos circuit, prompting an early queue for laps as rain looked to be imminent in the opening phase of the session.

All 20 drivers wasted no time getting out as the condensed sprint race format only leaves teams a single hour practice to nail down their set-ups for the entire weekend.

All 20 drivers wasted no time getting out as the condensed sprint race format only leaves teams a single-hour practice to nail down their set-ups for the entire weekend.

A close-up of the front brake duct on the Red Bull RB19, with the upper fairing wrapped around the disc, whilst the lower fairing takes care of cooling the caliper.