Lando Norris claimed a potentially crucial pole position for the São Paulo Grand Prix at the end of a chaotic, rain-hit qualifying at Interlagos that was red-flagged five times and which left the McLaren driver’s title rival Max Verstappen in P12 and facing a P17 start after he takes a grid penalty for PU changes. 

In soaking wet conditions a long queue formed at the end of the pit lane ahead of the session and when the green lights came on it was Alpine’s Esteban Ocon who set the early pace with a lap of 1:29.916. Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez slotted into P2 a tenth further back but RB’s Yuki Tsunoda then bypassed both with a lap of 1:29.172. 

The first red flag of the session then came out. Franco Colapinto lost control of his Williams in the middle of Turn 3 and spun off into the barriers. The Argentinian was unhurt but the session was suspended. 

After an eight-minute delay, the action got underway again, and with a couple of minutes left, Verstappen moved out of potential danger by claiming P5. His lap was deleted, however, as double waved yellow flags were being shown for an off for Nico Hülkenberg and the champion plummeted down to P12. However, in the final seconds he posted a lap 1:28.522 to jump to the top of the order ahead of Williams’ Alex Albon and Mercedes’ George Russell. 

Further back there was no place in Q2 for Lewis Hamilton. The Mercedes driver dropped out in P16 ahead the Haas of Ollie Bearman, the unfortunate Colapinto, the second Haas of Hülkenberg and Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu. 

Verstappen was to the fore again at the start of Q2. After Pérez got the ball rolling with a lap of 1:28.158, Verstappen powered past that, clearing his team-mate by 0.387s to set a time of 1:27.771. 

However, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri had made the switch to Intermediate tyres and the Australian jumped to P1 six tenths of a second ahead of Verstappen, before improving again by almost a second to set the pace at 1:25.179.

That sparked a mass move to Intermediates but while Russell and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll were able to exploit the green-banded tyres to climb to second and third respectively, there was no chance for anyone else to improve before the session was red-flagged for a second time. Carlos Sainz spun in Turn 2 and the Ferrari driver went backwards into the barriers, causing heavy damage to the back of the car. 

After another eight-minute halt, the session was restarted and once again, on a drying track, the lottery kicked into gear. 

Norris was first out on track and the Briton jumped to top spot with a lap of 1:24.844. However, further back on track, Stroll crashed in Turn 3. The red flags came out again and the stoppage denied both Red Bull drivers the chance to improve. With just 45 seconds left on the clock, there would be no resumption and Verstappen exited in P12, immediately ahead of team-mate Pérez. Also eliminated at the end of the middle segment were Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas in P11, Sainz in 14th place and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly in P15. 

At the start of Q3, it was Norris who made the most of the conditions and the McLaren driver took top spot with a lap of 1:24.158, half a second clear of Albon, with Piastri in third place. 

However, almost immediately after Norris crossed the line the red flags were flown for a fourth time. Fernando Alonso lost control in Turn 11 and he went off into the barriers at high speed. 

After a 12-minute delay to repair the barriers, and with seven minutes left, the session resumed. But once again the action was brief. With three minutes remaining Albon’s Williams stepped out under braking into Turn 1 and he slammed hard into the barriers, doing severe damage to the rear and front left of his car. The red flags appeared for the fifth time. 

And when the session resumed for the final time there was no stopping Norris. The Briton improved again to take pole with a time of 1:23.406 ahead of Russell with RB’s Yuki Tsunoda in third place. Alpine’s Esteban Ocon was fourth ahead of the second RB of Liam Lawson. Leclerc qualified sixth ahead of Alnon and Piastri with the Astons of Alonso and Stroll in ninth and tenth. 

2024 FIA Formula 1 São Paulo Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:23.405 - -
2 George Russell Mercedes 1:23.578 0.173 
3 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 1:24.111 0.706 
4 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:24.475 1.070 
5 Liam Lawson RB/Honda RBPT 1:24.484 1.079 
6 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:24.525 1.120 
7 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:24.657 1.252 
8 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:24.686 1.281 
9 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:28.998 5.593 
10 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes - - -
11 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 1:26.472 3.067 
12 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:27.771 4.366 
13 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:28.158 4.753 
14 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:29.406 6.001 
15 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:29.614 6.209 
16 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:31.150 7.745 
17 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 1:31.229 7.824 
18 Franco Colapinto Williams/Mercedes 1:31.270 7.865 
19 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1:31.623 8.218 
20 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 1:32.263 8.858