Lando Norris put his McLaren on pole position for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix on Saturday, mastering treacherous wet conditions at Interlagos to secure a third successive pole at the Brazilian circuit. The Briton set a time of 1:27.470 in a qualifying session disrupted by torrential rain.

George Russell was second fastest for Mercedes, 0.204 seconds behind Norris, with newly crowned world champion Kimi Antonelli third, 0.625 seconds off the pace. Charles Leclerc was fourth for Ferrari, followed by Liam Lawson for Racing Bulls and Nico Hulkenberg for Audi.

Rain delay and a reshuffled grid

Qualifying was suspended for more than one hour and 20 minutes after a downpour hit during the opening laps of Q1, with Race Control halting the session as conditions became undriveable. When running resumed, drivers moved from full wet tyres to intermediates as a drier line gradually appeared.

The qualifying order will not be the starting order for Sunday's 17:00 UK-time race. Russell carries a five-place grid penalty for an engine change and will drop to seventh, promoting Antonelli to the front row alongside Norris. Leclerc has a 10-place penalty and will start 14th, while Lawson will line up third and Hulkenberg fourth.

Hamilton and Verstappen at the back

Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen will start at the back of the grid after taking new power units. Hamilton qualified 11th and will start 20th, while Verstappen will start 21st. Sergio Perez will also start from the back of the grid.

Fernando Alonso reached Q3 for the first time this season and will start eighth, with Alex Albon ninth. Norris said the key was two clean early laps with no mistakes.