Lando Norris took pole position for the F1 São Paulo Grand Prix in a rain-soaked qualifying session at Interlagos on Saturday.
The McLaren driver set a lap of 1m27.470s on intermediate tyres, 0.204 seconds faster than Mercedes' George Russell. Russell's five-place grid penalty means new world champion Kimi Antonelli, third fastest, will start alongside Norris.
A long wait for the rain
Qualifying began at 3pm local time but was stopped within minutes, before anyone had set a lap, as drivers reported aquaplaning in heavy rain and standing water.
The session restarted almost an hour and a half after its scheduled start. Drivers ran full wet tyres in Q1 and intermediates in Q2 and Q3.
Russell was quickest in Q2 and fastest on his first lap of Q3. Mercedes then told him to abort his second flying lap, expecting heavier rain, and Norris's time held.
"That was definitely the pole lap," Russell said afterwards.
Penalties reshape the grid
Five drivers have grid penalties for engine changes. Russell drops five places to seventh, and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, fourth fastest, drops 10 places to 14th.
That promotes Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson to third, ahead of Audi's Nico Hülkenberg and Red Bull's Isack Hadjar. Haas driver Oliver Bearman starts sixth.
Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen start from the back after taking new engine parts. Verstappen was third fastest in Q1 but skipped Q2 to save tyres, while Hamilton ran in Q2 without changing to intermediates and was 11th.
Cadillac's Sergio Pérez has a 30-place penalty for new engine parts and starts last.
Mixed day for the rookies and McLaren
Brazilian Rafael Camara qualified 13th on his F1 debut for Haas, despite crashing at Junção late in Q2, which brought out a red flag. He starts 11th after the penalties.
Oscar Piastri was knocked out in Q2 in 12th place but will start 10th. Home driver Gabriel Bortoleto went off in Q1 and was 22nd fastest.
What happens next
The São Paulo Grand Prix starts at 10:30pm India time on Sunday 8 November.
Race it on Late Brake
Interlagos is one of the six real circuits in Late Brake, the free browser game. Try a lap on the racing line through the Senna S and Junção, then race your own ghost to see where you can find time.
Sources: BBC Sport, Autosport, The Race, The Race (qualifying results), The Race (starting grid)