The McLaren is looking very strong in the hands of Lando Norris. More drivers try to challenge the Briton's time but Carlos Sainz and now Max Verstappen in the Red Bull are still over four tenths away from matching that rapid lap.

Pierre Gasly and Valtteri Bottas have also put down a marker in this second qualifying session but here comes Lando Norris - and it' a mega lap.

The McLaren driver crosses the line and goes 0.620 seconds quicker than George Russell to sit top of the timesheets.

The medium tyres are bolted on once again, just like in SQ1. With this session lasting only 10 minutes, and the risk of rain growing, no driving is hanging around in the garage in SQ2.

George Russell is the first to bank a lap with a 1:09.683.

The wind is getting stronger and there are some blue patches on the radar. Will the rain arrive in SQ2? Let's find out...

A double knockout for Aston Martin at Interlagos. The team will have to try again tomorrow in main qualifying.

Over at RB, Yuki Tsunoda says he was happy with his lap, but unfortunately, the Japanese driver "had no grip".

16. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

17. Esteban Ocon (Alpine)

18. Yuki Tsunoda (RB)

19. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

20. Zhou Guanyu (Sauber)

Fernando Alonso is back to full fitness and out of the danger zone, but Aston Martin team-mate Lance Stroll is in trouble. Ollie Bearman goes sixth fastest, just as Lando Norris leapfrogs up the order to go quickest with a time 0.788 seconds better than Oscar Piastri.

Alonso drops down once again and this time, the Spaniard can't save himself.

Sergio Perez has hit a purple sector in the middle of the lap and moves up to second behind the McLaren of Oscar Piastri. Pierre Gasly is the man dangling above the bottom five in 15th place.

Franco Colapinto is down in the bottom five after his opening lap time was deleted. The Williams man needs to get out sharpish so he can put a marker down.

The clouds, by the way, are getting darker and darker...

16. Fernando Alonso

17. Valtteri Bottas

18. Lance Stroll

19. Zhou Guanyu

20. Franco Colapinto

Oscar Piastri shoots to the top of the timesheets with Nico Hulkenberg's Haas in second place. Max Verstappen is on a fast lap but the Red Bull driver's attempt is only good enough for fourth on the board.

Charles Leclerc is next to cross the line but the Ferrari can't catch the McLaren, instead slotting into P2 by 0.188 seconds.

Drivers must use the medium tyres in this session and the next, so the board is yellow from top to bottom. The two Alpines go quickest, with Esteban Ocon leading team-mate Pierre Gasly. With the track evolving with every lap, Liam Lawson now takes the best time ahead of Lando Norris and George Russell.

Any grid penalties can be put to one side for the moment.

Today and the first track action tomorrow is all about the sprint race.

SQ1 is green.

If there is rain heading to Interlagos, it probably won't be arriving during sprint qualifying. The forecast for this session is for dry weather, however the wind has picked up since first practice.

Here's BBC weather forecaster Ian Fergusson with the full update: "Air temperature at Interlagos is 22.2C and the track 45.6C. Wind from the SE, with gusts to 27mph in the past hour.

"Currently dry; some showers developing ~45km away in different directions. Official risk of rain 20%."

If you're new to this sprint qualifying format, here is how the next 45 minutes will work.

It has three sessions - like normal qualifying - with the slowest five cars eliminated at the end of the first two.

These sessions are shorter than standard qualifying, lasting just 12, 10 and eight minutes, respectively. Whoever takes pole position today will be on the front-row spot for tomorrow's 100km sprint race.

Using both tyre compounds is mandatory in sprint qualifying, so drivers need to use the medium compound in SQ1 and SQ2, before switching to the soft tyre for SQ3.

Image source, Getty Images

The stats don't make good reading for the other drivers.

Max Verstappen is a machine when it comes to the sprints, with the Dutchman winning 11 of the 16 events that have been held since the format was introduced in 2021.

At the start of this triple-header, Verstappen took pole position and the sprint win in Austin. He's four for four so far this season, so can anyone stop him taking his fifth sprint victory this weekend in Brazil?

Image source, Getty Images

The completely new asphalt at Interlagos caused Lewis Hamilton and George Russell to flag their discomfort to the pit wall during first practice.

Hamilton said "the ride quality is still bad" in the early stages, before adding he was in a bit of pain at the end of the session, while Russell commented that his hour had been a "bumpy ride".

Image source, Getty Images

Oliver Bearman is truly the man for every occasion this season.

The 19-year-old has been called up at short notice once again to fill in for a main driver, this time for Kevin Magnussen at Haas, who is feeling unwell.

He has deputised for Magnussen before when the Dane was banned for one race in Azerbaijan for accruing too many penalty points on his licence.

He also had a memorable debut for Ferrari sitting in for Carlos Sainz in Saudi Arabia in March, after the Spaniard was struck down with appendicitis.

Bearman finished his first outing in the car third on the timesheets, putting in an excellent lap on the softs to make FP1 an all-British top three.

Image source, Getty Images

Lando Norris was the fastest man on the resurfaced Brazilian track in first practice, pipping George Russell late on by 0.181 seconds.

The McLaren man is 47 points behind title rival Max Verstappen in the drivers' championship after cutting the deficit by 10 points at last week's Mexico City Grand Prix.

A perfect, or, more importantly, clean weekend for either driver across the shorter sprint and main race at Interlagos (eight points for a sprint win, 25 for a grand prix victory and the extra point for fastest lap) would see a return of 34 points.

Hello again, folks. The one and only practice session of this this Interlagos weekend is done and dusted, so it's full steam ahead with competitive track action from here on in.

Sprint qualifying gets under way at 18:30 GMT.

Commentary will be available on 5 Sports Extra, BBC Sounds, at the top of this page using the 'listen live' tab and via most smart speakers by asking BBC Sounds to play Sao Paulo Grand Prix sprint qualifying.

Harry Benjamin, Andrew Benson and Jolyon Palmer will be with us in about 15 minutes' time.