Lando Norris explains how he took wet Sao Paulo pole as George Russell and Kimi Antonelli line up behind

By Vancouver Television Sports Desk

Lando Norris claimed pole position for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix in difficult, rain-soaked Qualifying at Interlagos, beating Mercedes’ George Russell and Kimi Antonelli to top spot. The session featured poor visibility and low grip, and the weather forced drivers to abandon laps, but nine different teams progressed to Q3 before Norris put together the performance that mattered most when the track was at its trickiest.

Norris set a time of 1m 27.470s before the rain intensified and left other drivers unable to complete their runs. The pole marked his third consecutive Interlagos pole and gave McLaren its fourth pole of the 2026 season. After the session, Norris emphasized how confidence in the car shaped his approach in the wet.

Speaking after Qualifying, the Briton said he had “good confidence in the car,” adding that in wet conditions “every bit of confidence you can get is a good thing.” He also explained that while the field can begin to sort itself in Qualifying, Q3 becomes more about executing with minimal mistakes: making the most of a limited number of laps, placing tyres into a good window, braking later where possible, and accelerating harder without locking or spinning.

Norris said he focused on delivering “a very clean lap” in conditions where even small errors can be costly. He concluded that he “couldn’t have done any more,” describing the result as a clean, mistake-free performance.

Looking ahead to Sunday’s 71-lap race, Norris suggested he is counting on more rain. With potential wet weather continuing into the Grand Prix, he said that if he wants to win “we need rain,” stating that in dry conditions he feels McLaren does not have quite the speed of its competitors. Norris believes the rain narrows that gap, and he wants the wet conditions to persist throughout to maximize his advantage while challenging for position behind the leading qualifiers.

He also addressed the difficulty of holding off Antonelli, describing the race as a “tough challenge” with Kimi starting from P2 following Russell’s five-place grid penalty. Norris indicated he is comfortable with some rain throughout if it helps McLaren stay competitive and maintain control of the race’s evolving grip levels.

There were contrasting fortunes for McLaren elsewhere at Interlagos. Oscar Piastri was eliminated in Q2 for the second consecutive weekend, finishing down in P12 after being hindered by a late red flag related to Rafael Camara’s crash. With insufficient time remaining to resume the session, Piastri will still benefit from the impact of other drivers’ grid penalties, which the team expects to promote him to P10.

After his elimination, Piastri said the start of the session was “tough,” but that it improved toward the end. He added that drivers needed a couple of laps to bring tyre temperatures up into the inters range, and described the overall conditions as “very, very challenging.” He said McLaren will try to move forward on Sunday and noted that the final order could be affected by multiple grid penalties before concluding that the team will have to “wait and see” how the field lines up after those penalties are applied.