Lando Norris took pole position as championship leader Max Verstappen was knocked out early in a dramatic Qualifying for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix that featured five crashes.
A rain-hit, delayed session that took place on Sunday morning at Interlagos featured five crashes – but Norris emerged on top with a stunning lap at the end of Q3 to beat George Russell.
Verstappen, who is 44 points ahead of Norris in the Drivers’ Championship, was eliminated in Q2 but has a five-grid place penalty for a new engine so – as it stands – will start in 17th for the race, live on Sky Sports F1 at 3.30pm later on Sunday with build-up from 2pm.
RB’s Yuki Tsunoda qualified in a shock third from Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, and Liam Lawson was fifth.
Lewis Hamilton was surprisingly eliminated in Q1, while there were big crashes for Williams’ Franco Colapinto, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, Aston Martin pair Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso and Alex Albon, who has told Sky Sports he will not start the race due to damage.
If that is confirmed, Verstappen would start from 16th.
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Lewis Hamilton struggled in the rain around Interlagos, qualifying only 16th for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix
How Norris took huge pole in Brazil
For just the sixth time in F1 history, qualifying took place on a Sunday due to heavy rain on Saturday and the conditions nearly caught Norris out in Q1.
He scraped through the first part of qualifying in 15th but it was Verstappen who got knocked out in Q2 as Stroll crashed at Turn Three.
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Max Verstappen questioned why red flags aren’t raised faster after he failed to qualify out of Q2 during a wet Sao Paulo GP qualifying
Controversially, it took 40 seconds for the session to be stopped from Stroll’s accident and during that time, Verstappen was bumped into the bottom five and was unable to get another lap in, with Sergio Perez also eliminated for the same reason.
Norris took full advantage after two more red flags in Q3 for Alonso and Stroll’s crashes to take his seventh pole of the season and has a big opportunity to eat into Verstappen’s championship lead.
The five big crashes in Sao Paulo GP Qualifying
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Franco Colapinto’s massive crash saw the red flag brought out during qualifying
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Carlos Sainz crashed his Ferrari in Q2 as the red flag was deployed once again in Brazil
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Lance Stroll’s crash prompted a premature end to Q2 with Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez missing out on Q3
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Fernando Alonso became the fourth driver to crash into the barriers during a chaotic qualifying
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Alex Albon had a massive collision with the barriers in his Williams as a FIFTH red flag was brought out
Sky Sports F1’s live Sao Paulo GP schedule
2pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Sao Paulo GP build-up
3.30pm: THE SAO PAULO GRAND PRIX
5.30pm: Chequered Flag: Sao Paulo GP reaction
6.30pm: Ted’s Notebook
Formula 1’s Americas triple header concludes with the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, with a new start time of 3.30pm live on Sky Sports F1. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month Membership – No contract, cancel anytime