Sao Paulo Grand Prix Grid: Norris on Pole, Albon Ninth

The Sao Paulo Grand Prix grid is led by McLaren's Lando Norris, who took pole in a rain-hit qualifying session at Interlagos on Saturday, 7 November, BBC Sport reported. Thai-British driver Alex Albon will start ninth for Williams after his first top-10 qualifying result of 2026, while Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen line up 20th and 21st after engine penalties.

It is the third year in a row that Norris has taken pole in Brazil. Qualifying was stopped for nearly an hour and a half because conditions were too dangerous when officials first tried to start the session.

Sao Paulo Grand Prix grid: top 10

• 1. Lando Norris (McLaren)
• 2. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
• 3. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)
• 4. Nico Hulkenberg (Audi)
• 5. Isack Hadjar (Red Bull)
• 6. Oliver Bearman (Haas)
• 7. George Russell (Mercedes)
• 8. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
• 9. Alex Albon (Williams)
• 10. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

Charles Leclerc qualified fourth but starts 14th after a 10-place penalty for engine usage. Sergio Perez of Cadillac starts last, 22nd.

Albon and Alonso seize their chance

The BBC said Alonso and Albon both made the top 10 for the first time in 2026. For Albon, who races under the Thai flag, it is a welcome boost after a year spent outside the top 10 on Saturdays. Fans in Thailand will be watching to see if he can hold that position, or gain more, if the rain returns. Williams team-mate Carlos Sainz starts 13th.

Alonso said his Aston Martin's tyres were "ice cold" in the final session and that he was 1.8 seconds slower than sixth place. He hopes for rain, because he expects the team's lack of engine power to hurt on the long pit straight if the track is dry.

Norris and Russell want more rain

Norris said the session brought "some of the wettest conditions" he had ever driven in. "We're lucky it's wet, because if it was dry, I wouldn't be sitting here," he said, admitting McLaren did not have the dry pace of Mercedes.

Russell set the second-fastest time but drops five places for a new engine. He was angry after being told to back off on what he felt would have been his pole lap. He described aquaplaning at over 200km/h with zero visibility in Q1 and warned that a race in those conditions would carry a high risk of a "really, really horrific incident".

His team-mate Kimi Antonelli, who clinched the world title last weekend in Mexico City to become the youngest champion in history, starts alongside Norris on the front row.

Ferrari and Verstappen face recovery drives

Ferrari's weekend began with clear-the-air talks between Leclerc and Hamilton after their first-lap battle cost the team victory in Mexico. Both took new engines and 10-place penalties, and then Hamilton's new engine broke in final practice. A further replacement sent him to the back alongside Verstappen.

Verstappen won this race in the wet two years ago from 17th, so a comeback is possible. Hamilton and Verstappen will now compete to see who can make progress faster, and the BBC suggests Ferrari may not mind that its two drivers are separated by six places on the grid. Leclerc, who returned to Europe between races for the birth of his first child, said the air had been cleared and the matter was a closed chapter. Drivers say overtaking may be harder in this year's new-style cars, and Sunday's forecast is for light rain at a track famous for unpredictable weather.

Catch up on the background in our report on the Sao Paulo Grand Prix penalties, plus more weekend sport with Tye Ruotolo's win over Christian Lee and Buriram United's draw with Kashima.

Qualifying details and quotes were reported by BBC Sport.

Photo: Lando Norris in his McLaren, who heads the Sao Paulo Grand Prix grid (Calreyn88 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0).