Lando Norris said there was plenty he could learn from a wet and dramatic qualifying at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, having found himself on pole for Sunday's race in Brazil. 

Heavy rain at Interlagos saw qualifying delayed for around an hour and a half on Saturday, with the first laps of Q1 being affected by a torrential downpour.

There looked to be a risk of the remainder of the session being postponed, such was the ferocity of the weather, but it eventually eased to allow drivers back out on the circuit.

And in the end, McLaren driver Norris beat Mercedes' George Russell by 0.204 seconds to take his fourth pole of the season, after earning three in the space of four races in Hungary, the Netherlands and Spain. 

Russell must serve a five-place grid penalty this weekend, though he was still furious at being told to abort a seemingly faster lap when the rain was becoming heavier.

With Russell starting down in seventh, newly crowned drivers' champion Kimi Antonelli will start second, with Liam Lawson third. Charles Leclerc qualified quicker than the Racing Bulls driver but has a 10-place penalty of his own.

The wild conditions served as something of a leveller, with Audi's Nico Hulkenberg set to start from fourth, Racing Bulls' Isack Hadjar in fifth and Haas' Oliver Bearman in sixth.

And amid all the chaos, Norris was simply pleased to get the job done.  

"It's been a long day – it's been a great qualifying," the 2025 world champion said. "To be on pole again here, two years in a row, different conditions to last year, but I'm very happy.

IT’S POLE POSITION FOR LANDO  #McLarenF1 | #BrazilGP  https://t.co/qoJRfedrj3

— McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team (@McLarenF1) November 7, 2026

"They are not easy conditions out there, especially when you know it's going to rain a lot more. It was about getting two laps in at the beginning and not making any mistakes, and that's exactly what we did.

"This was my first time driving the car in the wet, but I think I figured it out pretty quickly. It’s tough because you're on wet, inter... all different tyres, and it was very windy on the last couple of laps.

"It was certainly a good day of learning for me, and it will be good to take into tomorrow. Today was about getting on pole, it doesn't really matter how you do it."

Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso will start seventh, with Williams' Alex Albon in eighth.

Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen will have to come from the back of the grid, with both serving grid penalties after having all-new power units fitted to their cars.