Kimi Antonelli is adamant he has "a lot to fight for" after claiming a surprise front-row grid slot for the São Paulo sprint race.
Antonelli will start the 24-lap event at Interlagos from second behind McLaren polesitter Lando Norris, who edged the 19-year-old Mercedes driver by a tenth of a second.
An analysis of their respective laps showed Norris had a slight edge throughout the first half before Antonelli made a slight error midway through the second sector, which arguably cost him a shot at pole.
"It was a good session overall," said Antonelli, who has McLaren's Oscar Piastri and Mercedes team-mate George Russell behind him on the second row.
"It was a bit difficult initially with traffic, but then we got into our rhythm. The soft [tyre] lap was a bit of a shame, into the second sector, but still a decent lap. P2 for tomorrow, so a lot to fight for."
Like many drivers, however, Antonelli is wary of the weather forecast as the sprint is under threat, given the warnings in place for the São Paulo area overnight and into the morning.
"Tomorrow we're going to expect quite different conditions compared to today," he said. "The weather is going to be a bit uncertain.
"We're going to have to take care of the wind. It's going to rotate [the car] quite a lot.
"We will try to be ready for anything, and hopefully we can do a good race."
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