Lando Norris took pole for the São Paulo Grand Prix at Interlagos on Saturday, securing his 20th career pole and fourth of the season. It was his third consecutive year on pole at the event, but penalties mean the qualifying order is not the same as the race’s first rows.

Rain stopped qualifying for more than 80 minutes

Torrential rain halted the first qualifying session after two minutes. Drivers waited more than 80 minutes before the session resumed, with lightning and thunder in the area and darkness approaching.

On the soaked track, drivers initially used full-wet tyres before switching to intermediates as the surface dried. Haas rookie Rafael Câmara, a Brazilian driver, reached the second qualifying phase but crashed into the barriers at Turn 12. The incident brought out the red flags and delayed the start of the final phase while debris was cleared.

Conditions worsened again in that final phase. The last five minutes passed without a car on track, leaving drivers no chance to improve their times. Norris had already set the fastest lap, while the long interruption and changing conditions made the route to pole unusually stop-start.

Norris said that securing pole mattered more to him than how he did it. Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli described the conditions as difficult and said he nearly went off at Turn 5; he was pleased with his qualifying result, which became more valuable after penalties were applied.

Penalties reshaped the starting order

George Russell was second-fastest, 0.204 seconds behind Norris, but a five-place grid penalty for an engine change drops him to seventh. That moves Antonelli up to second, alongside Norris on the front row, with Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson third and Audi’s Nico Hülkenberg fourth.

Isack Hadjar is set to start fifth for Red Bull and Haas driver Oliver Bearman sixth. Fernando Alonso is eighth, Alex Albon ninth and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri tenth. Câmara, whose crash interrupted the session, was due to start 11th after other drivers’ penalties moved him up two places.

Max Verstappen had a 30-place penalty for power-unit changes and did not take part in the second qualifying phase. Gabriel Bortoleto qualified last after going off and hitting the tyre wall in Q1; damage to his car could not be repaired in time. Both Alpines, both Cadillacs and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll also failed to advance from that opening phase.

Russell said he wanted to be first rather than second after aborting his fast lap behind Williams driver Alex Albon. The São Paulo Grand Prix is scheduled for Sunday, November 8, with Norris on pole and Antonelli alongside him.