Norris takes pole in rain-delayed qualifying

McLaren's Lando Norris took pole position for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix in a wet qualifying session at Interlagos delayed by nearly an hour and a half for heavy rain.

Norris beat fellow Briton George Russell by 0.204 seconds, and the Mercedes driver was fuming that he could have been faster had he not been told by his engineer to abort a faster lap before the rain became heavier.

In any case, Russell has a five-place grid penalty for exceeding his permitted number of engine parts, promoting team-mate and new world champion Kimi Antonelli to second.

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc qualified fourth but has a 10-place grid penalty which promotes Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson to third.

The New Zealander was one of a number of drivers to have their best qualifying session of the year thanks to the levelling effect of the wet weather.

Also among them were Audi's Nico Hulkenberg, who qualified sixth and will start fourth, Haas driver Oliver Bearman, who was eighth and will start sixth, and Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso, who was ninth and will move up one place to eighth, plus Wlliams' Alex Albon, who is right behind Alonso.

McLaren's Oscar Piastri was knocked out in Q2 but will start 10th because of the penalties, while Brazilian Rafael Camara will line up 11th on his F1 debut, despite crashing his Haas towards the end of the second session.

Qualifying started at 15:00 local time but was stopped before anyone could set a lap because the conditions were too dangerous to continue.

Bearman said: "Definitely the wettest conditions I've experienced in a race car, if not any car, and that's saying a lot given I grew up in the UK."

It was finally restarted again an hour and 26 minutes after the originally scheduled start time.

And a plethora of engine-related grid penalties changed the shape of qualifying as Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who was third fastest in the first session, did not take part in the second because he knew he would be starting at the back of the grid.

Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton, who also starts from the back for the same reason, did take part in the second session but did not make it through into the top 10, qualifying 11th.

The rain gave an opportunity for drivers in usually uncompetitive cars to shine, chief among them Alonso, whose Aston Martin has been among the slowest cars in the field all season.

The veteran Spanish two-time world champion was in the running among the leaders throughout the session but even in the wet the lack of power from the Honda engine meant he still faced a handicap.

But it was Norris who shone brightest. The 2025 world champion has looked quick all weekend in the upgraded McLaren. He repeated his pole from Brazil last year, and will start from the front for the first time since the Spanish Grand Prix in September.

Norris 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 was still ruing 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."

1. Lando Norris (McLaren) - 1:27.470

2. George Russell (Mercedes) - five-place grid penalty

3. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)

4. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) - 10-place grid penalty

5. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)

6. Nico Hulkenberg (Audi)

7. Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls)

8. Oliver Bearman (Haas)

9. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

10. Alex Albon (Williams)