McLaren's Lando Norris secured pole position for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix after a qualifying session at Interlagos that was delayed by nearly 90 minutes due to heavy rain.
Norris set a time of 1:27.470, beating Mercedes' George Russell by 0.204 seconds. Russell was frustrated after being instructed to abort a potentially faster lap before the rain intensified. Russell also carries a five-place grid penalty for exceeding his engine component allocation, promoting his teammate Kimi Antonelli to second on the grid.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc qualified fourth but has a 10-place penalty, moving Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson up to third. The wet conditions allowed several drivers in less competitive cars to shine, including Audi's Nico Hulkenberg (sixth, will start fourth), Haas' Oliver Bearman (eighth, will start sixth), Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso (ninth, will start eighth), and Williams' Alex Albon (tenth, will start ninth). McLaren's Oscar Piastri was eliminated in Q2 but will start 10th due to penalties, while Brazilian rookie Rafael Camara will line up 11th on his Formula 1 debut despite a crash in Q2.
The session was red-flagged before any laps could be set due to dangerous conditions, and restarted 1 hour 26 minutes after the scheduled start. Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who was third fastest in Q1, did not participate in Q2 knowing he would start from the back due to engine penalties. Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton also starts from the back for the same reason but took part in Q2 to save tires for the race.
Norris, the 2025 world champion, has looked strong all weekend in the upgraded McLaren and repeated his pole from Brazil last year. He said: "It's been a long day, a great qualifying. It was about getting two laps in at the beginning and not making mistakes and that's what we did." Russell rued the decision not to complete his final lap, saying: "Congrats to Lando. That was definitely the pole lap. The rain was coming and we should have just finished the lap. Felt more confident in the wet than we did in the dry."
The race is scheduled to start at 17:00 GMT on 8 November.
