Lando Norris Prevails In Wild Brazil Qualifying Session

A wet and wild Sunday morning qualifying session in Sao Paulo ended with massive implications in both the drivers’ and constructors’ championships.

Lando Norris ended up as the pole-sitter. George Russell qualified second and, in a big surprise, Yuki Tsunoda ended up in third.

After four other red flags for separate incidents in a chaotic sessions, the fifth set the stage for one final push. Alexander Albon hit the wall in turn 1 and utterly destroyed his Williams with three-and-a-half minutes remaining in Q3. It was a horrible way to end qualifying for Albon, who was second at the time on the board.

Norris’ pole came as Max Verstappen qualified 12th, with a five place grid penalty relegating him to 17th. But with the number of wrecks in the session, the grid will be in flux until just before the start of the race.

“Eyes forward,” Norris said in the podium interviews after being asked about looking for the win or a big points day. “I’ve got some quick guys behind. George put in a nice lap, Yuki’s been flying in the wet all day.

“It’s never easy in these conditions, it’s never about settling down and getting on with it. It’s what I’d like to do. … We’ll see. If we can get a race in, that’s a start.”

Tsunoda capped off a great session for RB, with Liam Lawson also taking fifth. With the Haas drivers out in Q1, RB stands to make a big gain in their constructors’ standings battle with the American team.

“We are slightly behind P6 [in points], Haas” Tsunoda said in the podium interviews. “We need catching up. This is the moment that, we want to maximize opportunity.

“As a team, we did as much as we can to score as much as possible.”

Q3

As he had wrecked out of qualifying in the previous round, Lance Stroll did not attempt a lap in this round.

There was further bad news for Aston Martin in this round, as Fernando Alonso wrecked out of qualifying with seven minutes remaining in this round.

The car spun out and wedged itself directly in the wall, causing another red flag in a qualifying full of them.