Brazilian Grand Prix 2024: Norris on pole; Verstappen will start 17th.

McLaren’s Lando Norris took pole position for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix in a chaotic and crash-filled qualifying session in which Max Verstappen was 12th.

The Red Bull driver has a five-place grid penalty for the Grand Prix later on Sunday so will start 17th, although he could move up if some of the damaged cars are unable to start the race.

Mercedes driver George Russell was joint second with Norris and RB Yuki Tsunoda third ahead of Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and RB’s Liam Lawson.

The session was marked by five red flags as a result of heavy crashes involving, in order, Williams’ Franco Colapinto, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, Aston Martin drivers Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso, and Williams’ Alex Albon.

Verstappen was furious at the delay in throwing the red flag due to Stroll’s crash in the second session, which he believed allowed other drivers to knock him out of the top 10 as the session was not restarted.

And Norris himself came close to being eliminated in the first session – he was in the drop zone before jumping into 15th place, the last car to advance, on his final lap.

However, this time it was Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton who was knocked out, who qualified 16th.

Norris said: “A lot of things happened. I found it very difficult at the beginning of the session, I worked on it a lot during the session. I’m a little surprised to be on pole, but it’s a good result for us.”

Verstappen complained that the delay allowed other drivers to push him out of the top ten.

“I find it incredible,” Verstappen said. “The car crashes into the wall, broken. It’s clearly destroyed, but they wait 30-40 seconds and the others can complete their lap times, but those behind, of course, cannot.

“The car hits the wall, it should be straight red, I don’t understand why it takes 30-40 seconds for the red flag to appear. It’s so stupid to talk about this. This is funny.”

In fact, a review of the session shows that it made no difference for Verstappen.

He was lying 10th when Stroll crashed after a bad one lap after restarting following a red flag period due to Sainz’s crash earlier in the session.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc crossed the line and demoted Verstappen to 11th after just two seconds – well within the normal range when the yellow flag turns red after a heavy crash.

Leclerc finished qualifying sixth and Albon, who was second before the crash, dropped to seventh ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, Alonso and Stroll.

It remains to be seen whether Aston Martin and Williams, who have two damaged cars, will be able to repair both in time for the race, and if they can’t, which driver will be selected.