2024 Sao Paulo GP Qualifying: Norris beats Russell and Tsunoda

Lando Norris secured pole position in a dramatic 2024 Sao Paulo Grand Prix qualifying session that saw championship leader Max Verstappen knocked out early. The rain-soaked and delayed Sunday morning session at Interlagos featured five crashes, with Norris setting a brilliant final lap in Q3 to outpace George Russell.

Verstappen, holding a 44-point lead over Norris in the 2024 Drivers’ Championship, was eliminated in Q2 and, with a five-place grid penalty for a new engine, set to start 17th in the race.

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RB’s Yuki Tsunoda unexpectedly qualified third, just ahead of Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, with Liam Lawson in the sister RB in fifth. Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton suffered an early exit in Q1, and significant crashes impacted Williams’ Franco Colapinto, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso. Alex Albon, who sustained heavy damage, informed the media he might not start the race if his WIlliams team couldn’t repair his badly damaged car in time.

Sao Paulo GP Qualifying Results

2024 Sao Paulo Grand Prix Qualifying, 3 November 2024

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Q1	Q2	Q3	Laps
1	4	Lando Norris	McLaren Mercedes	1:30.944	1:24.844	1:23.405	33
2	63	George Russell	Mercedes	1:29.121	1:26.307	1:23.578	29
3	22	Yuki Tsunoda	RB Honda RBPT	1:29.172	1:26.464	1:24.111	30
4	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine Renault	1:29.171	1:26.206	1:24.475	31
5	30	Liam Lawson	RB Honda RBPT	1:30.758	1:25.654	1:24.484	30
6	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:29.839	1:26.097	1:24.525	29
7	23	Alexander Albon	Williams Mercedes	1:29.072	1:25.889	1:24.657	28
8	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren Mercedes	1:30.114	1:25.179	1:24.686	28
9	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	1:30.207	1:25.035	1:28.998	21
10	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	1:30.580	1:26.334		19
11	77	Valtteri Bottas	Kick Sauber Ferrari	1:30.633	1:26.472		21
12	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	1:28.522	1:27.771		19
13	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	1:30.035	1:28.158		18
14	55	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	1:30.303	1:29.406		17
15	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine Renault	1:29.420	1:29.614		21
16	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:31.150			11
17	50	Oliver Bearman	Haas Ferrari	1:31.229			11
18	43	Franco Colapinto	Williams Mercedes	1:31.270			5
19	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas Ferrari	1:31.623			12
20	24	Zhou Guanyu	Kick Sauber Ferrari	1:32.263			12

How Norris Clinched a Crucial Pole in Brazil

In a rare Sunday qualifying session due to heavy rain on Saturday, Lando Norris narrowly avoided elimination in Q1, scraping through in 15th place. However, championship leader Max Verstappen was knocked out in Q2 after a crash by Lance Stroll at Turn Three.

The decision to stop the session took a contentious 40 seconds, during which Verstappen was relegated to the bottom five, unable to complete another lap. Sergio Perez suffered the same fate, being eliminated without a chance to respond.

Norris capitalised on the chaotic Q3, which saw further red flags due to crashes from Alonso and Stroll. He clinched his seventh pole of the season, positioning himself with a solid opportunity to reduce Verstappen’s championship lead come the races chequered flag.

2024 Sao Paulo Grand Prix Starting Grid

The Grand Prix starting grid, with or without penalties, after the 2024 Sao Paulo Grand Prix Qualifying session.

Pos	No	Driver	Car
1	4	Lando Norris	McLaren Mercedes
2	63	George Russell	Mercedes
3	22	Yuki Tsunoda	RB Honda RBPT
4	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine Renault
5	30	Liam Lawson	RB Honda RBPT
6	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari
7	23	Alexander Albon	Williams Mercedes
8	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren Mercedes
9	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes
10	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes
11	77	Valtteri Bottas	Kick Sauber Ferrari
12	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT
13	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine Renault
14	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
15	50	Oliver Bearman	Haas Ferrari
16	43	Franco Colapinto	Williams Mercedes
17	1	Max Verstappen¹	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT
18	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas Ferrari
19	24	Zhou Guanyu	Kick Sauber Ferrari
20	55	Carlos Sainz²	Ferrari

¹Max Verstappen penalised five positions for use of additional power unit element.
²Sainz required to start from the pit lane after additional power unit and gearbox elements were used.

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Ben is a staff writer specialising in F1 from the 1990s to the modern era. Ben has been following Formula 1 since 1986 and is an avid researcher who loves understanding the technology that makes it one of the most exciting motorsport on the planet. He listens to podcasts about F1 on a daily basis, and enjoys reading books from the inspirational Adrian Newey to former F1 drivers.