Norris takes third straight Interlagos pole in rain-hit qualifying
NXTbets Pro | Published On: November 7, 2026
Norris pole
Lando Norris claimed pole position for the São Paulo Grand Prix at Interlagos and backed it with a pole-winning lap of 1:27.470, a run that kept him on top through a qualifying session repeatedly interrupted by rain and red flags. It was Norris’s third consecutive pole at Interlagos, a run that underlined how well he has handled the circuit even when the conditions turn messy. He did the decisive work in a session that never found a clean rhythm. Rain kept changing the grip level and the red flags kept breaking momentum, which put a premium on timing and execution every time the cars went back out. Norris found the lap when it mattered most and held the top spot as the session tightened around him.
George Russell ended up second, 0.204 seconds behind Norris, and Kimi Antonelli took third, giving the front of the grid a tight spread before the penalties were applied. Charles Leclerc qualified fourth and Liam Lawson was fifth, rounding out the leading group in a session where the order kept shifting as drivers tried to make the most of short windows of track time. The final stages brought another interruption when Rafael Câmara crashed and triggered a late red flag, another reminder of how difficult the afternoon became for everyone in the field. Qualifying never settled into a smooth run, yet Norris still produced the key lap and made the difference when the track was at its most volatile.
Grid penalties
The starting grid changed after qualifying, and the penalties had a major impact on where several front-runners will line up. Antonelli was promoted to second and will start alongside Norris on the front row, turning his third-place qualifying effort into a first-row start. That moves him into one of the best positions on the grid despite not taking pole himself. Russell, who qualified second, will start seventh because of a five-place grid penalty. That drop changes the shape of the battle near the front and leaves him with more work to do after being so close to Norris on pure pace. Leclerc, who qualified fourth, will start 14th after a 10-place grid penalty, a steep setback that pushes him deep into the field and leaves him with a much harder route through the race. Lawson, who qualified fifth, keeps a strong place in the top group.
The penalties did even more damage farther back. Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen were also penalized and will start from the back of the grid. That turns the race into a recovery job for two of the sport’s biggest names and adds another layer to a qualifying session that already carried a heavy toll. The top of the order still belongs to Norris after his third straight Interlagos pole, but the grid itself tells a more complicated story. Antonelli’s promotion, Russell’s five-place drop, Leclerc’s 10-place penalty and the back-of-the-grid starts for Hamilton and Verstappen leave the race split between the drivers who earned their spots on pace and the drivers who will have to fight forward after the sanctions reshaped the lineup.
