Brazilian GP: Lando Norris on pole in wet-weather thriller

Lando Norris emerged on pole position at the Brazilian Grand Prix, after an Interlagos qualifying session where the weather wreaked havoc.

A string of storms triggered an 84-minute delay, and a dash to set a Q3 time. It was Norris, in the upgraded McLaren, who mastered the conditions to take pole.

Lando Norris claims pole around wet Interlagos.

Various drivers approached qualifying knowing that they had grid penalties to come.

Among those sanctions were back-of-the-grid starts for Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton after power unit changes.

Rain had threatened to hit Interlagos on Saturday, and a downpour indeed arrived in the build-up to qualifying.

The problem, that was not anticipated to be the only one. With more precipitation believed to be incoming, drivers were desperate to leave the pit lane at the start of Q1. These conditions had the potential to be the best they would get.

Too late. The deluge had already arrived.

Those who were trying to tackle this challenge with intermediate tyres probably needed to come back in for wets.

No need for the moment. Red flag. The session had been stopped with 15 minutes and 37 seconds left on the Q1 clock. It was absolutely hammering it down.

Oliver Bearman picked up a reprimand from the FIA stewards after briefly reversing his Haas in pit-lane.

The Safety Car had made it out to inspect the standing water after that band of rain had cleared, but during this process, the next arrived.

Remaining daylight was becoming a prominent consideration.

As the SC retreated to the pit lane, marshals headed out in an attempt to brush standing water off the asphalt. The delay had reached three quarters of an hour.

Bernd Mayländer sprung back into action for a second assessment.

But alas, the rain was bucketing down again, as the SC retreated to pit-lane.

“It’s very simple to say it’s not drivable,” said Mayländer of the conditions. “It’s too dangerous.

“A lot of standing water in some parts, even on the straights. That creates a high-speed aquaplaning. And safety-wise, in the moment we have to stop it, and hopefully we can continue. Hopefully the rain will be less, and then we try again. We do all our best.”

Third time lucky? Mayländer returned to the circuit as that latest storm relented.

Good news. The FIA confirmed a 16:26 local time resumption to qualifying. In other words, one hour and 26 minutes after the light had gone green to start Q1. It had been a delay of 84 minutes in total.

It was raining again as cars queued in the pit lane.

Valtteri Bottas was first to start a ‘flying’ lap. Every car was out on the track.

Verstappen gave a timely reminder of his credentials in these conditions, a 1:37.932 taking P1 comfortable. That was until Fernando Alonso went a second quicker in the Aston Martin.

This would be a case of pumping in as many laps as the circumstances would allow, in hope of avoiding that bottom six and Q1 elimination.

Brazil’s own Gabriel Bortoleto was kicking up the dirt and water as he went off out of Juncao. Crucially, he got going again. Same place, same story for Lance Stroll. Carlos Sainz and Bearman were caught out there too.

Sadly for Bortoleto, his rear wing was broken beyond repair, so his session was done.

As driver confidence improved, so too did the lap times. Norris topped Q1. Franco Colapinto, Pierre Gasly, Stroll, Bottas, Sergio Perez and Bortoleto were out.

Q2 time. With rain no longer falling, the crossover between full wets and intermediates was not far away.

Verstappen was not heading out in Q2, considering his back-of-the-grid start. The wet-weather tyres could be needed again on Sunday. Hamilton did emerge.

Russell in top spot, Arvid Lindblad had been told to stop his Racing Bulls. He did at Turn 4, behind the barriers.

Meanwhile, Alonso and Hadjar were going for intermediates. That triggered a frenzy of defectors, as the pace ramped up.

Juncao caught Sainz out for the second time this afternoon, debutant Rafael Camara too. He was in the wall. Red flag. Thankfully, the Brazilian was okay.

With just 43 seconds left on the clock, it meant that Hamilton, Oscar Piastri, Camara, Lindblad and Sainz joined Verstappen in exiting qualifying.

Russell had set the pace. Alonso had bagged Aston Martin’s first Q3 appearance of the season.

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The start of Q3 was delayed to fully clean up the Camara crash scene. Not ideal, as another area of rain was closing in fast. The radar suggested it was very heavy.

Drivers had a gamble on their hands. Some were lined-up at the pit exit on inters, others holding back.

The rain had started with a minute to go until Q3 began.

Aston Martin had got Alonso at the front of queue, with potential ideal track position. 1:30.311. It was not enough for provisional pole.

Russell’s 1:27.674 was the benchmark. Norris was on provisional pole and took that P1 position next time around. The rain was intensifying.

Russell was furious over team radio. Race engineer Marcus Dudley had seemingly told him to back off and find a gap, as he came up behind Albon’s Williams.

Notwithstanding that grid drop, Russell made it clear that he was not happy with P2, as he was on a “P1 lap.”

It was too wet now. Pole for Lando Norris at Interlagos. Kimi Antonelli will join him on the front row.

Brazilian Grand Prix 2026 – F1 qualifying results (Interlagos)