Lando Norris claimed pole position for the 2026 F1 São Paulo GP after mastering a rain-hit Qualifying session at Interlagos, admitting that the difficult conditions gave McLaren an opportunity it might not have enjoyed in the dry.
The Briton secured his first pole position since Madrid with a 1:27.470, beating Mercedes’ George Russell by 0.204 seconds. Newly crowned World Champion Kimi Antonelli finished third, while Charles Leclerc and Liam Lawson completed the top five. Russell’s five-place grid penalty will promote Antonelli onto the front row alongside Norris.
The result marked Norris’s third consecutive pole at Interlagos and provided further encouragement for McLaren after the team introduced its latest upgrade package ahead of the Brazilian weekend.
However, Norris remained cautious about the team’s outright competitiveness, acknowledging that Mercedes had held an advantage in dry conditions.
Norris masters changing conditions at Interlagos
Heavy rain disrupted the beginning of qualifying, with standing water forcing Race Control to suspend Q1 after drivers struggled with aquaplaning.
Once the F1 São Paulo GP Qualifying session resumed, Norris immediately demonstrated his confidence in the wet, topping Q1 before progressing through Q2 in ninth as teams switched from full wet tyres to intermediates.
The second segment ended prematurely when Haas rookie Rafael Câmara crashed, triggering a red flag that prevented several drivers from improving. Among them was Norris’s teammate Oscar Piastri, who qualified 12th.
With further rain approaching during Q3, Norris knew he had limited opportunities to secure pole.
Reflecting on the session, he said:
“Well, it’s been a long day. It’s been a great qualifying, obviously. To be on pole again here two years in a row, in different conditions to last year, but I’m very happy,” he said.
“It’s 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, not making any mistakes, and that’s exactly what we did. So it’s been a very good day.”
A tense battle for pole position
The McLaren driver explained that the approaching rain made his opening Q3 laps particularly important.
“Well, tense session, especially knowing the weather was only going to get worse. You could already on that lap see that it was getting… I could see that it was getting a little bit wetter and starting to rain more, so I knew that was probably my only chance, those two laps.”
“It was tense when you want to push so much. You need to kind of learn about the conditions, but you also need to not make a single mistake. It’s a lot to try and do and be correct on in such a short amount of time and under such pressure.”
“But actually, I felt pretty confident through the whole of qualifying. Q3 was definitely the trickiest because it was also difficult to see, because of the light, where were the dry bits, the wet bits and puddles, things like that. So, more rewarding for that instance. And yeah, nice to be back on top.”
As the rain intensified, drivers struggled to improve their lap times. Norris’s early effort ultimately proved decisive, securing his 20th career pole position.
Learning the 2026 McLaren in wet conditions
Norris’s performance carried additional significance because qualifying marked his first experience driving McLaren’s 2026 car in wet conditions.
Despite having limited knowledge of how the machinery would behave on full wets and intermediates, the Briton quickly adapted.
“Well, this was my first time driving the car in the wet, so I think I figured it out pretty quickly. I mean, your stuff was your wet into all different tyres,” he admitted.
“It was very windy as well over the last couple of laps, so it’s certainly a good day for learning for me and good to take into tomorrow.”
“I mean, these guys are also very quick, so just happy. Having today, it’s about getting on pole. It doesn’t really matter how you do it, so very pleased with that.”
The changing grip levels and tyre temperatures added another challenge throughout the session, particularly as drivers transitioned between compounds.
“Very. I mean, especially when you’re changing tyres and in Q2, obviously going from the Wet to the Inters and adapting, and then into Q3, knowing how to turn everything on in the quickest time possible and obviously not make a mistake.”
“So, it’s hard to, I guess it’s hard to explain. It’s just very, very tricky conditions and it’s so easy to lock up a front tyre or do something that you feel like you want to push so much more, but you just can’t.”
“And it was also my first time driving this car in the wet, so I was also trying to learn things on the go and understand how the tyres worked through the session, how they got up to temperature and those kinds of things.”
“So, it was also a good learning experience for this season, even though it’s so late in the year. Otherwise, it was just a good lap, just putting it together when I needed to, and that’s always the most important.”
Staying focused through qualifying delays
The difficult conditions during the F1 São Paulo GP Qualifying session, also demanded considerable mental focus from Norris. With lengthy interruptions leaving drivers waiting in their garages, Norris had to maintain his concentration before returning to the circuit.
“I mean, it’s easy to think of a lot of different things, especially at the beginning when we did the first part and then stopped for a long time, and we’re still in Q1.”
“It was still like the middle of Q1, so it’s easy to kind of relax a little bit too much and lose a little bit of the mindset of getting in the car.”
“But I think also, over the years, you kind of learn how to jump from these situations better and how you get better going from a situation where you’re just relaxed and having fun with your engineers to Q1, and you have to put together a good lap and not make a mistake.”
“You know, so it’s never the easiest, and it seems to always happen a lot here and at certain tracks through the season, which is part of it. And it’s a fun experience.”
“It’s stressful for sure, and it’s not an easy track to put everything together. You have a lot of corners where you’re accelerating with a lot of load, like Turn 3 and Turn 13, which is not easy, especially in the wetter conditions. You don’t go flat almost until out of Turn 13,” he said.
“So, yeah, it’s just not easy, but it’s always a good challenge around here, and it’s always good fun to drive this circuit.”
“But these conditions, no matter what, are always tricky, especially because I think in Q1, or some of the wettest conditions, I think I’ve ever driven in before. So, a lot of it’s about trying to just stay calm and relaxed and just to try and have good confidence that you’re going to do a good job.”
Why the rain gave McLaren an advantage during the F1 São Paulo GP Qualifying
While Norris celebrated another pole at Interlagos, he acknowledged that the weather played a significant role in allowing McLaren to challenge Mercedes.
Antonelli had topped FP2 on Friday, while Max Verstappen led the final practice session on Saturday. McLaren remained competitive, but Norris felt the team lacked the outright pace to secure pole in dry conditions.
“Well, we’re lucky it’s wet, because if it was dry, I wouldn’t be sitting here. In the dry, we definitely didn’t have the pace,” Norris stated.
“So yeah, I was questioning how we were going to be in the wet, and also because I’ve not driven the car in the wet, I didn’t know how it was going to perform.”
“Already in Q1, I seemed very quick from the off and had a lot of confidence in the car, so that’s a good sign.”
“But I mean, I try and get pole everywhere. It’s just they’ve come together well here, and I do like the track. I do feel like I have a good understanding of what I want to achieve, and we’ve looked better this weekend for sure.”
“I think we still had some small issues, and we’ve not been up to the pace of the Mercedes, but otherwise the wet kind of gave me an opportunity and I made the most of it.”
Norris reflects on making the most of opportunities
The result also highlighted Norris’s ability to capitalise on opportunities despite McLaren’s ongoing performance deficit.
Asked whether claiming pole in such difficult circumstances brought greater satisfaction, Norris pointed to the role drivers can play when conditions become unpredictable.
“I mean, pole in any situation is very nice, for sure. At the minute, it’s a good thing for the team. At the same time, conditions like this are not always about who has the best car and who has the most grip, so it’s all about the driver.”
“But there are conditions where you feel like you can make a little bit more of a difference at times, for sure. And I feel like I’m against good guys who also have the capabilities of going for pole, and today we managed to do it because I put two good laps together and I had a good gap, and we managed things well.”
“So yeah, I certainly don’t think we’re favourites at all, and I still don’t think we have the outright pace compared to the top few teams. But we’re certainly getting there, and I think it’s just a good thing for me to know that when I have that opportunity, I can make the most of it.”
“Like today, when I had the three opportunities in the middle of the season to be on pole or to win races, we did every time. So I feel like it’s still been a good season to look back on and go, ‘Did I make the most of those opportunities?’ Yep.”
“But also, like I said, for the team, it’s reassuring for them. It’s a confidence booster for all of them to kind of end the season knowing we’ve caught up a lot since the beginning of the season.”
“A big deficit, we caught up. We still have plenty of work to do, but when there are moments when there is that little opportunity to get pole, we have the car to be there. We just need to be there a bit more consistently.”
McLaren upgrades deliver despite remaining deficit
McLaren introduced further upgrades for the F1 São Paulo GP weekend as it continued working to improve the MCL40’s competitiveness.
Norris had already expressed encouragement following Friday’s sessions, suggesting the new components had improved performance and made the car slightly easier to drive.
However, Norris’ assessment after the F1 São Paulo GP Qualifying was more measured. Although the package delivered the expected improvements, he felt McLaren’s advantage had diminished as the weekend progressed.
“Just little bits. It doesn’t feel, honestly, that different. I think as we kind of just got out in the car through the weekend, honestly, I feel like we’ve dropped off a little bit in pace.”
“FP1 was quite an easy session and I felt like, ‘Oh, we’re quite quick.’ Through the weekend, it’s almost got a little bit harder and the others seem to have got more out of the car.”
“But the upgrades have worked. They’ve brought performance. If we didn’t have them, we’d be slower.”
“So, I think I have to say a big thanks to the team because they’re still working very hard on trying to give me this opportunity to go quicker and put the car on pole, and I’m very happy that I managed to do it for them today.”
Although Norris recognised that McLaren still needed to close the gap to its rivals, securing pole offered encouragement that the team’s development efforts were producing results.
Norris hoping for rain on Sunday
Attention now turns to Sunday’s race, where Norris will share the front row with Antonelli following Russell’s grid penalty.
With Mercedes demonstrating stronger dry-weather pace throughout the weekend, Norris hopes the unsettled conditions continue into race day.
“I’m hoping for a wet race. There’s a good likelihood it’ll be wet. I mean, there’s a bit of rain, I think, tomorrow at times, and it’ll still be damp through the day, so we could just have an exciting race with a little bit of everything, honestly.”
“But I was certainly more confident in the wet and inters than I was in the dry. I think in the dry we just didn’t have the pace compared to these guys, so I’ll certainly be happier if I wake up and see rain in the morning.”
