SAO PAULO (AP) — McLaren driver Lando Norris will start Sunday’s Brazilian Grand Prix from pole with Formula One championship leader Max Verstappen in 17th after struggling in his Red Bull during a rain-affected qualifying session that was marred by five crashes.
The gap between the two drivers heading into the afternoon’s race is 44 points.
Norris clocked the fastest lap time on the wet Interlagos track at 1 minute, 23.405 seconds. His countryman George Russell of Mercedes will start second. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who retains a slim chance of winning the drivers’ title, was sixth in qualifying.
“I am a little surprised, again,” said Norris. “It was easy to end up badly, on the wall.”
“It is a relieving qualifying,” he added.
Three-time champion Verstappen didn’t even make it to the final third of qualifying. His 12th place in the second third of the session was pushed further back because of a five-place grid punishment for changing his engine for the sixth time this season, exceeding the maximum allowance of four.
Every third of qualifying was interrupted by at least one crash with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, his teammate Fernando Alonso, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr., Albon Albon of Williams and his teammate Franco Colapinto all losing control of their cars.
The result was an unusual grid with Visa Cash App RB’s Yuki Tsunoda qualifying third with Alpine’s Esteban Ocon next to him.
“I had a couple of mistakes, but I had a little luck as well,” Tsunoda said. “We had a good pace in the rain as well.”
Tsunoda’s teammate Liam Lawson rounded out the top five.
Sergio Perez, the second Red Bull driver, also failed to reach the final third of qualifying, and clocked the 13th fastest time. Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes didn’t even make it to the second third, and will start from 15th after moving up a spot due to Verstappen’s punishment.
Qualifying started in low grip conditions at 7:30 a.m. local time (1030 GMT), and two red flags were shown after crashes by Stroll and Colapinto. The start of the Grand Prix was brought forward from 2 p.m. to 12:30 p.m. (1530 GMT). All drivers started off on wet tires, but moved to intermediates as the qualifying went on.
Many drivers arrived at Interlagos around 6 a.m. Ferrari’s Sainz took the time to serve coffee for team staffers as they prepared for qualifying.
Organizers said qualifying on Sunday had only happened five times in F1 history and a German driver has secured pole position on every occasion. The most recent was at the 2019 Japanese Grand Prix, with four-time champion Sebastian Vettel starting from the front.
The FIA announced qualifying had been postponed Saturday after a two-hour delay, with no cars having the chance to clock any laps. It said in a statement that the decision was taken due to the lack of visibility caused by the level of rain, “with a lot of standing water on parts of the circuit which renders conditions unsafe.”
Many of the more than 60,000 fans that came to Interlagos on Saturday did not appear for qualifying Sunday morning.
The gap between Norris and Verstappen could shrink further in Brazil with four grands prix and a final sprint race to the end of the season.
Organizers are yet to decide whether the tribute to legendary three-time champion Ayrton Senna will take place on Sunday. The late Brazilian’s title-winning McLaren is scheduled to be driven by one of his biggest fans, Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton.
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