Lando Norris Takes Wet 2026 São Paulo Grand Prix Pole
Lando Norris secured pole position for the 2026 São Paulo Grand Prix after a rain-soaked qualifying session at Interlagos stretched through major delays and two red flags. The McLaren driver set a 1:27.470 lap in Q3, beating George Russell’s Mercedes by 0.204 second and Kimi Antonelli by 0.625.
The FIA’s official qualifying report confirms Norris, Russell and Antonelli as the three fastest drivers in the session. The classification is the qualifying order; grid penalties will change several starting positions before the November 8 race.
Norris gets the decisive lap in before the rain intensifies
Q3 began on intermediate tires with the weather worsening again. Fernando Alonso set the early reference time before Liam Lawson, Norris and Russell moved ahead. Norris completed his 1:27.470 lap while the circuit was still improving, then heavier rain made another serious challenge difficult.
Russell finished second at 1:27.674, while Antonelli’s 1:28.095 secured third. Charles Leclerc qualified fourth, followed by Lawson, Nico Hülkenberg, Isack Hadjar, Oliver Bearman, Alonso and Alexander Albon.
Formula 1’s official timing page lists Norris as fastest in Q1 as well as Q3. His pole lap came after a long afternoon in which grip, visibility and tire choice changed repeatedly.
Heavy rain stops Q1 almost immediately
Qualifying started on an already saturated track and was red-flagged less than three minutes into Q1 as rainfall increased. After a lengthy interruption, all 22 drivers returned on full-wet tires and gradually lowered their lap times as water cleared.
Gabriel Bortoleto hit the barrier late in Q1 and could not improve. Franco Colapinto, Pierre Gasly, Lance Stroll, Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Pérez were also eliminated in the first phase.
A second red flag ends Q2 early
The switch from full-wet tires to intermediates became decisive in Q2. Lawson was among the first to make the change and immediately went fastest, showing how quickly the crossover point had moved.
Rafael Câmara, making his Formula 1 debut for Haas, lost control and hit the barrier near the end of the session. The resulting red flag prevented further improvements. Lewis Hamilton placed 11th, Oscar Piastri 12th and Câmara 13th, with Arvid Lindblad, Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen also outside Q3. Verstappen did not set a representative Q2 time because of his expected power-unit penalty.
Grid penalties will change the front rows
Russell qualified second but is due to lose five grid positions for an engine change. Leclerc has a 10-place penalty, while Hamilton, Verstappen and Pérez are also expected to start near the rear after power-unit changes. The final grid therefore will not mirror the timing sheet.
Antonelli is set to move alongside Norris on the front row. The Mercedes driver arrived in Brazil as the newly crowned 2026 world champion; Chiefs Review covered how Antonelli clinched the title in Mexico.
What to watch in Sunday’s race
The São Paulo Grand Prix is scheduled for November 8 at Interlagos. Norris told Formula 1 that the wet conditions helped him compensate for what he viewed as a dry-weather pace disadvantage, but qualifying does not establish the race result. Strategy, weather, tire management and the penalty-altered grid will all matter over 71 laps.
For another international qualifying result this weekend, see Chiefs Review’s report on Ferrari and Lexus taking pole for the WEC Monza finale.
Featured image: Lando Norris driving the 2026 McLaren MCL40 during practice for the Chinese Grand Prix in March; archive photo, not São Paulo qualifying. Photo by Liauzh, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY 4.0. No changes were made.
