2026 São Paulo Grand Prix - Qualifying Report

Autódromo José Carlos Pace, Saturday, 7 November

Find out what happened during FP3 and Qualifying in São Paulo, and get the thoughts of McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Drivers Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, and Team Principal, Andrea Stella.

Lando Norris secured Pole position at the São Paulo Grand Prix for the third time in three years, mastering the treacherous conditions for the McLaren Mastercard F1 Team at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace. This secured the team their fourth Pole of the season, and Lando’s 20^th in his career to date. 

Torrential rain extended Qualifying into a third hour where Oscar was unlucky with a Red Flag and qualified P12, which translates to P10 on the grid tomorrow due to penalties for a number of cars around him.   

Free Practice 3 started with the threat of rain evident, prompting teams to head out earlier than would usually be the case in Saturday practice. As it transpired, the rain coming in from the west was petering out over the Guarapiranga Reservoir and the session stayed dry. Both drivers ran a Medium tyre at the start of the session, committing them to a 5-1-1 tyre allocation, before moving onto Quali sims on the Soft tyre at the end.  

The data from Friday practice had confirmed the upgrades fitted to the MCL40 were working well, and all through the session, the car looked competitive. Conditions in the session were very different to yesterday, with much hotter asphalt and a change in wind direction.  

The session ended just as the track got very dark, and the rains came down. Those at the circuit experienced an hour of heavy rain, then, as Qualifying approached, it eased off. Cars went to queue on Inters, with a few full Wets on display. Lando and Oscar stayed in the garage, and made the decision late to take the full Wet, the rain increasing as the start approached. They began their lap, visibility was poor, cars across the grid were aquaplaning and the session was Red Flagged.  

Eventually the session got back underway at the local time of 16:26, after a sequence of exploratory runs from the Safety Car. All cars were on the Wet tyre, with times falling steadily through the session – as much from the cars clearing water as from the track drying. Lando went through in P1, Oscar in P11.  

Q2 saw Full Wet tyres fitted for the start but with the rain easing off, drivers started to discuss the switch to an Inter with their teams. McLaren Mastercard made the move part-way through the session after six laps. It would, in theory, give them two laps on the quicker rubber, and times began to fall rapidly. Lando’s first effort was good enough for P9, Oscar’s left him P12 and then disappointment struck for Oscar, as the Red Flag was thrown when Haas’ rookie driver Rafa Câmara went into the barriers, and with no time to restart the session, Oscar was eliminated at the conclusion of Q2. 

Q3 began with Lando as the fourth car in the queue. The wind was picking up, foreshadowing an oncoming storm. Inters were the order of the day again, and Lando’s first lap put him into P1, before later cars knocked him down the order. He reclaimed the Pole position spot on his second lap, and held it as other cars came over the line. He started a third consecutive push lap, but heavier rain started to fall. He, and everyone else pitted, and with no prospect of improving, the top ten drivers sat in the garages, waiting for the Chequered Flag. It’s Lando’s third consecutive Pole at the São Paulo Grand Prix, with the 2025 World Champion also having Sprint Poles in 2023 and 2025.  

The team now turns its attention to tomorrow’s race. With more inclement weather on the way, it is all to play for as the team looks to extract the maximum performance from the car to be in contention to fight at the front and conclude the penultimate triple header with a set of strong Constructors’ Championship points. 

"It was a very tricky Qualifying session, with conditions changing all the time. The priority was to stay calm, understand how the tyres and car were coming up to temperature, and avoid mistakes. I felt confident in the wet from Q1, and I’m pleased we put the lap together when it mattered. This is a track I enjoy, but we know we have not had the pace of Mercedes in the dry, and today the car has not felt quite as strong as it did earlier on in the weekend. 

"A big thank you to the team for continuing to work hard and giving me the opportunity to fight for Pole. Today it felt like we had more pace in the wet and on Intermediates. The conditions could make it a challenging race with a bit of everything, so we’ll need to stay focused and make the most of our chances." 

"Today’s Qualifying was a very tough session, especially at the beginning, when the track was incredibly slippery. It became a little easier towards the end, but the call on tyres was always going to be difficult because I was a long way up the road and there was always a risk that an earlier Red Flag could change things, but we paid the price by missing out on Q3. 

"The car felt reasonable in the wet, and we’ve been more competitive and comfortable in the dry this weekend, so it’s disappointing not to have made more of the session. We’ll review what happened and see what the weather and final grid order bring tomorrow. If it’s dry, we look strong; if it’s wet, we’re still decent, but we’ll need to work hard overnight and into the race to make progress up the field." 

Andrea Stella 

Team Principal 

"This Pole position is a real source of satisfaction. Congratulations to Lando, who, in very difficult conditions, put in an excellent lap at the decisive moment at the start of Q3. The whole team did a good job of managing a very tricky session due to the rapidly changing weather conditions. It’s a shame about Oscar, who was let down by a Red Flag just as he was about to complete a lap that would probably have seen him make the cut in Q2. It was difficult to judge the right moment to switch to Intermediate tyres, and the Red Flag was beyond our control. 

“We’ve made a significant effort to bring a package of updates here to Brazil and, from what we’ve seen in the three Free Practice sessions, they’re delivering the performance boost we expected. We’ve made progress, although that doesn’t mean we suddenly have the fastest car. 

"Tomorrow’s race will be wide open, with a starting grid very different from the usual one due to the combination of a wet Qualifying session and various penalties. The weather conditions will play a decisive role, and it will be vital not to make any mistakes and to react correctly to whatever happens on the track. Today’s result gives us great motivation to tackle this new challenge: we’ll do everything we can to score valuable points for the championship."