Lando Norris will start from pole position in the Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday, following a shortened qualifying session in wet circumstances that included five red lights. Max Verstappen, who leads the championship by 44 points over Norris, was in 12th place when the second qualifying session was red-flagged. With a five-place penalty for adding a sixth engine, the Dutchman will start 17th in the Grand Prix on Sunday.
Verstappen was enraged when the red flag was raised almost 40 seconds after Lance Stroll hit the wall, eliminating the possibility of resuming. “It’s just, the car hits the wall, and the light has to be a straight red,” he said to Sky News.
“I’m not sure, honestly. It’s ridiculous to discuss. This is ridiculous. Our focus is now on the race; what occurred happened. Norris was on the verge of being eliminated from the first qualifying session, which had been postponed from Saturday due to inclement weather, but he held his nerve in his McLaren and won the following two sessions after switching to intermediate tires.
“A lot was going on today but I’m super, super happy because I was struggling at the start of qualifying,” says Norris. He will start alongside George Russell’s Mercedes, Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda, and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon on the second row of the grid. Lewis Hamilton, the seven-time world champion, struggled in his Mercedes and did not make