Norris beats Russell and Tsunoda to pole position in Sao Paulo amid five red flags in dramatic rain-affected qualifying

Lando Norris has taken pole position during a hugely eventful qualifying session ahead of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, which featured five red flags, several shock eliminations – including Max Verstappen exiting in Q2 – and changing weather conditions.

Following the postponement of the session from Saturday, there were numerous dramas during Sunday morning’s qualifying right until the final Q3 segment, in which two heavy crashes for Fernando Alonso and Alex Albon disrupted running. This left just over three minutes on the clock – and seven cars in the running – for the final top 10 shootout.

Despite continued tricky conditions, Norris surged through to claim pole position with a lap of 1m 23.405s, putting him 0.173s clear of Mercedes’ George Russell in second. Yuki Tsunoda, meanwhile, enjoyed his best-ever qualifying to take third for RB, the Japanese driver set to line up alongside Alpine’s Esteban Ocon in fourth.

RB’s day was made even better by Liam Lawson slotting into P5, ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in P6. Albon held onto P7 despite his earlier crash, while Oscar Piastri had to settle for P8 after having a moment in the McLaren.

Alonso and Aston Martin team mate Lance Stroll rounded out the top 10, with Alonso having been unable to continue following his incident while Stroll did not participate in Q3 after suffering a crash of his own at the end of Q2.

Q2 featured two stoppages, with one coming following a mid-session crash for Carlos Sainz while the second came in the dying moments after Stroll hit the barriers. This late incident resulted in both Red Bulls being unable to improve, with Verstappen in P12 – which will become P17 due to his five-place grid penalty – and Sergio Perez in P13.

Kick Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly were knocked out in 11th and 15th, while Sainz ended up in 14th amid what could be a tough repair job for Ferrari prior to the Grand Prix.

There was drama in the final moments of Q1 as Norris just managed to get through – which subsequently pushed out Lewis Hamilton, leaving the Mercedes driver down in P16.

Haas had a tricky session, with substitute Oliver Bearman and team mate Nico Hulkenberg failing to make the cut in 17th and 19th. Williams’s Franco Colapinto also exited in 18th, having earlier crashed into the barriers which left him unable to continue, and Kick Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu rounded out the pack in 20th place.

AS IT HAPPENED

Q1 – Norris pushes Hamilton out while Verstappen goes fastest

Following the postponement of qualifying on Saturday afternoon due to poor visibility caused by heavy rainfall, the drivers and teams reassembled on Sunday morning at the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace to set the grid for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix later that day.

Ahead of Q1 getting under way at 0730 local time – with the rain having become lighter amid a slightly uncertain forecast at Interlagos – a lengthy queue of cars had already formed in the pit lane, all sporting the full wet tyres as they made their way out onto the track.

The yellow flags were soon out at Sectors 2 and 3, with Lawson having been off in the RB at Turn 12 before getting going again. It was a case of déjà vu shortly afterwards for Zhou, who did the same thing at the same point of the circuit, while Stroll had a brief trip onto the grass.

Bottas was the first to take a gamble on the intermediate tyres as Q1 headed towards its halfway point. Ocon, meanwhile, had set the fastest lap of the session so far with a 1m 29.916s, putting him 0.291s ahead of Alonso in a slightly mixed-up order at the top.

Tsunoda subsequently slotted himself into P1 on a 1m 29.172s – before the red flags were thrown when Colapinto crashed into the barriers after spinning his Williams into Turn 3. The Argentinian driver reported that he was okay as the marshals worked to clear the scene.

When the session resumed with just over eight minutes left on the clock, the drivers at risk were Albon, Zhou, Russell, Bottas and Hamilton as the field again queued up to get going – amid heavier rain falling on the circuit, leading Bottas to switch back to the full wet tyre. Russell seemed especially keen to hit the track, overtaking cars in the pit lane on the way out.

The conditions were making it challenging for drivers to improve, but Gasly proved that it was possible after bettering his effort in the Alpine. Hamilton, meanwhile, had got himself out of danger – but only just, slotting into P14 with a few minutes remaining. Russell also looked to be having a tough time, having been off track which left him down in P20.

While the Briton still managed to haul himself up to second place on his next lap, Hamilton was in the drop zone and struggling. Elsewhere Norris was on the bubble in 15th after having a time deleted due to track limits. Hamilton just managed to go through by moving up to 14th, dropping Norris down into the elimination zone.

The McLaren driver then did enough to go up to P15, which pushed Hamilton back down again to P16. It was also a disappointing session for Haas, with Bearman and Hulkenberg exiting in P17 and P19, while Colapinto was sandwiched between them in P18 and Zhou brought up the rear in P20. Verstappen, meanwhile, ended Q1 on top via his effort of 1m 28.522s.

Knocked out: Hamilton, Bearman, Colapinto, Hulkenberg, Zhou

Q2 – Red Bull face double elimination amid two more red flags

The rain looked to have eased off as Q2 kicked off, with Piastri having bolted on the intermediate tyres for his opening run while the rest of the pack were still using the wets. All eyes were on what the Australian could do – and he went third fastest on a 1m 28.925s.

Several other drivers then started to box for inters as Piastri continued to go even quicker, going faster than Verstappen at the top by 0.6s. Grip looked to be tricky, though, with Russell experiencing a spin – and this was soon followed by Sainz going off at Turn 2, triggering the yellow flags which then became the second red flag of the session.

“I crashed, sorry guys,” Sainz commented over the radio, having lost the rear of his Ferrari. With five minutes left on the clock as Q2 came to a halt, the drivers at risk were Norris, Gasly, Albon, Tsunoda and Ocon. Would Norris face a repeat of his last-minute battle to get through in Q1?

The Briton appeared keen to avoid this, having positioned himself at the front of the pit lane queue ahead of the session recommencing. When the action resumed Norris put himself into third – but others were also improving, including Alonso who went quickest of all.

Leclerc got himself out of the danger zone while Norris went fastest on a 1m 24.844s, yet disaster struck for Red Bull when a crash for Stroll sparked another red flag – meaning that there was not time for the world champions to improve.

Verstappen’s P12 will become P17 on the grid, with the Dutchman having a five-place grid drop due to a power unit change. The other drivers eliminated in Q2 were Bottas in P11, Perez in P13, Sainz in P14 and Gasly in P15.

Knocked out: Bottas, Verstappen, Perez, Sainz, Gasly

Q3 – Norris takes pole amid more red flags while RB catch the eye

After the numerous dramas of Q1 and Q2 – and with rain starting to fall again – attentions turned to the top 10 shootout, with the now-usual sight of a queue forming in the pit lane. Stroll had made it through, but obviously would not be participating given his Q2 crash. And with the absence of big names including Red Bull, Sainz and Hamilton, could the others capitalise?

As the first laps went on the board it was advantage Norris on a 1m 24.158s – before the session was again red-flagged after Alonso whacked the barriers with just under seven minutes left on the clock, the Aston Martin having skated off the track. Fortunately the two-time champion walked away while the marshals again set to work.

This time it was Russell who led the remaining eight cars out on track when Q3 resumed, but the conditions still looked trying as everybody attempted to improve. With three minutes left, a fifth red flag was thrown following a hefty crash for Albon. There were cheers from fans as the Thai driver thankfully stepped out of his heavily damaged Williams.

“If the conditions are slower, just be sensible. The race is in a few hours,” Norris was told by his race engineer as Q3 began again with seven cars left. Norris, Piastri, Ocon and Leclerc were straight out on track while Russell, Lawson and Tsunoda bided their time, seemingly happy to go with just one flying lap.

As the final laps came in, Norris went fastest on a 1m 23.405s – and it became clear that team mate Piastri would not be able to beat this after the Australian had a moment on his lap. It was Russell who instead became the Briton’s closest challenger, but his effort was still 0.173s off in P2.

It was a dream outing for RB as Tsunoda and Lawson sealed third and fifth respectively, the best-ever qualifying results for both drivers, while Ocon will slot between them in fourth for Alpine. Leclerc took sixth from Albon in seventh – who kept his position despite being out of the running – with Piastri in eighth, Alonso in ninth and Stroll in 10th.

Key quote

"There was a lot going on today," said Norris, "but super, super happy because I was struggling a lot at the beginning of qualifying. I had a lot of work to do so I was not comfortable at all, so to end up on pole… I worked at it a lot through qualifying. I had a lot of errors I needed to improve on but I did exactly that, so a little surprised again. I’ve been surprised a bit lately but a little bit surprised to be on pole, but some nice laps. I felt good in the end and a good result for us."

What's next

The 2024 Sao Paulo Grand Prix is set to begin at 1230 local time on Sunday. Head to the RACE HUB to find out how you can catch the action from the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace.