Lando Norris secured pole position during the qualifying session for the São Paulo Grand Prix, while Max Verstappen exited in Q2 due to a red flag. George Russell will start in second, ahead of Yuki Tsunoda in third. Verstappen also has a five-grid drop penalty from last weekend, meaning he will start from 17th position, just behind Lewis Hamilton, who was eliminated in Q1.

The Stroll incident also eliminated Valtteri Bottas in 11th, which was his best qualifying result since finishing 10th in China. Verstappen topped Q1, which was interrupted halfway by a crash from Franco Colapinto. This left drivers with challenging conditions as the rain intensified, with times only improving at the end of the session. Norris barely made it through in 15th, while Lawson’s last-minute improvement knocked Hamilton out. Oliver Bearman and Nico Hülkenberg also failed to advance, and Bottas had attempted an unsuccessful switch to intermediates before the red flag, while his teammate Zhou Guanyu was unable to advance, ending up in last place.

The session proved significant for the championship contenders, as Norris was on the edge of elimination in Q2 when Carlos Sainz crashed at Turn 1, threatening his progression. Norris struggled with full wet tires but then pitted for intermediates once the session resumed. Verstappen did not improve his position, and both Red Bull drivers fell into the elimination zone due to Stroll’s crash with less than a minute remaining. Verstappen expressed his frustration about the timing of the stoppage, but even a red flag immediately after the incident would not have helped him.

In Q3, Norris set the pace with a time of 1:25.631 on his initial run with intermediate tires, as teams anticipated the rain to intensify. He then improved his time to 1:24.158, with Alex Albon and Oscar Piastri right behind him. However, Fernando Alonso crashed at Turn 11, bringing out another red flag for the session.

With seven minutes remaining, drivers returned to the track, but their early efforts did not yield improvements as they struggled to build up tire temperature. The session was then disrupted again when Alex Albon crashed hard at Turn 1. This incident caused the fifth red flag of the session, leading to major damage to Albon’s car.

In the final moments of the resumed session, McLaren’s strategy paid off for both drivers. Norris improved his time twice, achieving a best time of 1:23.405. Piastri, however, did not improve on his first run and then locked up at Turn 1, forcing him to pit at the end of his second run. This allowed other drivers to gain positions. Liam Lawson briefly took second place before his teammate Tsunoda claimed it. However, that didn’t last long, as George Russell took second place and moved Tsunoda to third. Esteban Ocon claimed fourth place for Alpine.

Charles Leclerc managed to secure sixth place, benefiting from a yellow flag during Piastri’s off-track moment. Albon finished seventh, just ahead of Piastri, while the damaged Aston Martins of Alonso and Lance Stroll rounded out the top ten, with Stroll unable to participate in Q3 due to his earlier incident in Q2.