Wet qualifying started late but delivered plenty of drama. Norris took pole position

Interlagos never disappoints. Although we had to wait an hour and a half for the action to begin, it proved worth it in the end. Once the weather relented, we saw laps on both full wets and intermediates. Lando Norris ultimately claimed pole position.

Engine-change penalties effectively reduced the fight for pole position to a battle between Norris and Antonelli. The conditions were ripe for a major surprise like the one of Kevin Magnussen’s pole position in 2022. In the end, though, the favourites delivered. Norris and Antonelli will line up on the front row on Sunday, with Liam Lawson and Nico Hülkenberg on the second row once the penalties are applied.

Q1 held in difficult conditions

Qualifying began on schedule but was quickly suspended. The rain intensified almost as soon as Q1 began, bringing out the red flags. The delay lasted almost an hour and a half, but the fans in the grandstands were rewarded for their patience as qualifying eventually resumed.

It was an intense Q1. The drivers fuelled up and pounded round lap after lap. It was a thrilling session with plenty of mistakes but no further red flags. Camara, Stroll, Bortoleto, Sainz and Bearman were among those to go off. Only Bortoleto suffered a session-ending crash, damaging his rear wing in the impact and having to climb out of the car after returning to the pits.

There were no major surprises. The Alpine and Cadillac drivers, Stroll and the aforementioned Bortoleto were all eliminated. Rafa Camara drove superbly on his debut, progressing in 13th despite a very heavy impact which his Haas survived almost miraculously.

Piastri eliminated in Q2 again

Conditions remained challenging in Q2. Around halfway through, it was time to switch to intermediates. Arvid Lindblad did not make it that far, having to park his car with a mechanical problem.

The session ended early after Rafael Camara crashed at Turn 12. The red flags came out, trapping Oscar Piastri in the elimination zone as he suffered another Q2 exit in Brazil after Mexico.

Kimi Antonelli (10th) and Lando Norris (ninth) only just made it through. Hamilton (penalised), Piastri, Camara (crashed), Lindblad (mechanical problem), Sainz and Verstappen (penalised) therefore bowed out after Q2.

Norris handles Q3 best

Conditions began to deteriorate rapidly at the start of Q3. That left the drivers with just one or two attempts before conditions became significantly worse. It opened the door to surprises, but the favourites ultimately delivered.

Lando Norris set the fastest time and will start from pole position on Sunday. George Russell finished second and was furious after qualifying. He had been stuck behind Albon, and his engineer advised him to back off and leave a gap. As a result, he did not complete his lap, despite apparently being more than a second up on Norris’s time at that point. Although his penalty would have denied him pole position anyway, Russell was deeply frustrated to finish second.

Kimi Antonelli ultimately finished third and will start second on Sunday. Charles Leclerc was fourth but will start 14th once his penalty is applied. Liam Lawson will therefore move up to third, joined on the second row by Nico Hülkenberg. Isack Hadjar and Ollie Bearman will line up on the third row, with Fernando Alonso and Alex Albon on the fourth.

Sunday’s race starts at 18:00 Central European Time.