Lando Norris took pole for the São Paulo Grand Prix with a 1:27.470 in rain-hit Interlagos qualifying, 0.204 seconds ahead of George Russell. Penalties for Russell, Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez reshuffle the grid and move Kimi Antonelli onto the front row.
São Paulo, Brazil: Rain decided everything at Interlagos on Saturday. It stopped the session before it had properly started, scrambled the midfield, ended Q2 with a crash and returned in Q3 just as the pole shootout reached its climax. Through all of it, Norris kept his McLaren on the road and his lap time ahead of everyone else’s.
A session lost to the weather
Heavy rain brought out a red flag less than three minutes into Q1. The stoppage lasted well over an hour, and when the drivers finally returned they ran full wet tyres on a saturated track. Norris set the benchmark at 1:30.939, with Russell next. Six drivers went out: Franco Colapinto, Pierre Gasly, Lance Stroll, Valtteri Bottas, Sergio Pérez and Gabriel Bortoleto, who hit the barrier late in the session and could not improve.
Lawson’s gamble and a second red flag
Verstappen did not set a Q2 time, with a grid penalty already waiting for him. Liam Lawson switched to intermediate tyres and went to the top of the order, while Arvid Lindblad’s session ended early with trouble on his Racing Bulls. With less than a minute left, Haas debutant Rafael Câmara crashed into the barrier, and the second red flag ended the session without a restart. Hamilton, who was also facing a penalty, was eliminated in 11th, ahead of Piastri in 12th. Câmara, Lindblad, Sainz and Verstappen completed the casualty list. Câmara got his chance after Haas confirmed Esteban Ocon would not race again this season.
Norris holds his nerve
Ten drivers went out for Q3 as the rain intensified. Fernando Alonso, on intermediates, set the first benchmark at 1:30.311. Norris and Russell traded provisional pole before Norris’s 1:27.470 settled it, a time nobody could beat before the rain returned. Russell, 0.204 seconds slower, was visibly frustrated after Mercedes told him to abandon his final lap, a call he believed cost him a chance to improve.
“It’s been a long day,” Norris said afterwards, adding that the key was getting two laps in at the start and not making mistakes.
Antonelli, who was crowned the youngest world champion in Mexico City last weekend, qualified third, 0.625 seconds off the pace. Leclerc was fourth and Lawson fifth, with Nico Hülkenberg, Isack Hadjar, Oliver Bearman, Alonso and Alexander Albon completing the top ten.
A grid redrawn by penalties
The order on the timesheet will not be the order on the grid. Russell takes a five-place penalty and Leclerc drops ten, while Hamilton, Verstappen and Pérez face penalties tied to new power-unit parts that send them to the back. That lifts Antonelli alongside Norris on the front row, with Lawson and Hülkenberg behind them. Russell falls to seventh and Leclerc to 14th. The Grand Prix starts at 14:00 local time on Sunday.
Qualifying (top ten): 1. Lando Norris (McLaren) 1:27.470; 2. George Russell (Mercedes) +0.204; 3. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) +0.625; 4. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.819; 5. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) +0.851; 6. Nico Hülkenberg (Audi); 7. Isack Hadjar (Red Bull); 8. Oliver Bearman (Haas); 9. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin); 10. Alexander Albon (Williams).
