2024 F1 Round 21 São Paulo GP qualifying: Norris takes pole in rain-hit Sunday session, Tsunoda a career-best third amid five red flags

Postponed by torrential rain, qualifying for the 2024 Formula 1 São Paulo Grand Prix, round 21 of the season, took place at Interlagos on the evening of 3 November, Beijing time. Lando Norris claimed pole with a 1:23.405 in a chaotic wet session, 0.173 seconds ahead of George Russell. RB’s Yuki Tsunoda was third in 1:24.111, his best qualifying result to date. Max Verstappen was eliminated in Q2 in 12th and faced a further five-place grid penalty for using his sixth internal combustion engine, leaving him set to start 17th.

Qualifying had originally been scheduled for Saturday afternoon, but repeated delays caused by thunderstorms eventually pushed it back to Sunday morning, 16 and a half hours later than planned. It was the sixth time in F1 history that qualifying and the Grand Prix had been held on the same day. Q1 began on a fully wet track, but conditions gradually improved and the battle for pole ultimately took place on intermediate tyres. There were five crashes and five red flags during the session.

Tsunoda remained composed in the rain at Interlagos. At one stage in Q1 he topped the timing sheet by more than 0.6 seconds over Charles Leclerc. In Q3 he lost control in a half-spin at Turn 4, but fortunately slowed in the gravel run-off and avoided the barrier. On his final lap he beat Esteban Ocon to secure third and a place on the second row. Team-mate Liam Lawson also sprang a surprise in fifth, putting both RB cars in the top five.

Red Bull suffered a major setback as both Verstappen and Sergio Pérez went out in Q2. After finishing qualifying in 12th, Verstappen was furious with the race director: following Lance Stroll’s crash, it had taken 40 seconds to switch from yellow flags to a red flag. Team principal Christian Horner also said: “If the red flag had come out immediately, Max could have been tenth, with time to do another lap. It is really frustrating.”

Crashes punctuated the session. Franco Colapinto lost control and hit the wall at Turn 3 early in Q1, bringing out the first red flag. Stroll crashed in Q2, while Fernando Alonso hit the barrier at Turn 11 on his first flying lap in Q3, leaving both Aston Martins damaged. After Q3 resumed, Alex Albon, who had briefly been second, crashed heavily at Turn 1, causing severe damage to the rear and left-hand side of his car. Although he retained seventh in the grid order, there were doubts over whether the car could be repaired before the race. Lewis Hamilton was eliminated in Q1 in 16th. Ocon finished fourth, Leclerc sixth and Oscar Piastri eighth.

For championship contender Norris, starting the Grand Prix from pole offered an opportunity to strengthen his position. Whether Verstappen could recover in the rain from 17th became the race’s biggest question. Tsunoda, starting from a career-best third, would be aiming to bring RB a strong points haul.