Lando Norris grabs pole, Max to start P17 as rain-hit qualifying sets up high-stake clash at Interlagos

SAO PAULO: In a session with five red flags, Lando Norris secured the pole position yet again as he hopes to erase the 44 point gap to Max Verstappen with the Dutchman having to start at P17 at the Interlagos Circuit on Sunday.

After the Qualifying session was delayed to Sunday due to the treacherous weather conditions on Saturday, rain continued pouring onto the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace as chaos followed in the qualifying session.

Lewis Hamilton, who in the past has won the Brazil GP three times in his iconic career, was eliminated from the top 15 fray. His final lap saw him move up to 14th but late dashes by Lando Norris and Liam Lawson pushed the British driver back into the bottom five alongside Oliver Bearman (Haas), Franco Colapinto (Williams), Nico Hulkenburg (Haas) and Zhou Guanyu (Sauber).

The winner of the Mexico Grand Prix last weekend, Carlos Sainz, saw his session come to an early end as he spun out at turn two which caused the second red flag of the session. The drivers returned to the track with just over five minutes left and it was Lando Norris who went fastest. Just as the McLaren driver approached the checker line, Aston Martin's Lance Stroll went into the barricades causing a red flag. The Red Flag saw the Red Bull’s of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez both eliminated in Qualifying 2. With the Dutchman finishing 12th in Qualifying and him having to serve a five-place grid penalty for changing of power unit, the title hopeful will have to start from 17th place.

The theme continued for the third qualifying session as well as the other Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso spinned into the barricade at Turn 11 to cause the fourth red flag of the session. The drivers returned to track only for Alex Albon, who was sitting comfortably at P2 at the time, was involved in a crash at turn 1 which saw the Williams’ car take heavy damage and resulted in the fifth red flag of the session.

With just three minutes left to go, all drivers came out all guns blazing in hopes of securing a front row spot. Lando secured the pole position but teammate Piastri ended falling down to eighth place. George Russell moved up to second place ahead of the surprise third place finish by Yuki Tsunoda followed by Estaban Ocon in fourth place amd Liam Lawson rounding out the top five.

With just three hours from now till the race, teams will be scrambling to fix any and all damage caused by the accidents as a promising Brazil GP has the potential to help Lando Norris’ bid for a first ever World Championship title.