2024 Sao Paulo Grand Prix qualifying report and highlights: Norris beats Russell and Tsunoda to pole position in Sao Paulo amid five red flags in dramatic rain-affected qualifying

Q2 – Red Bull face double elimination amid two more red flags

The rain looked to have eased off as Q2 kicked off, with Piastri having bolted on the intermediate tyres for his opening run while the rest of the pack were still using the wets. All eyes were on what the Australian could do – and he went third fastest on a 1m 28.925s.

Several other drivers then started to box for inters as Piastri continued to go even quicker, going faster than Verstappen at the top by 0.6s. Grip looked to be tricky, though, with Russell experiencing a spin – and this was soon followed by Sainz going off at Turn 2, triggering the yellow flags which then became the second red flag of the session.

“I crashed, sorry guys,” Sainz commented over the radio, having lost the rear of his Ferrari. With five minutes left on the clock as Q2 came to a halt, the drivers at risk were Norris, Gasly, Albon, Tsunoda and Ocon. Would Norris face a repeat of his last-minute battle to get through in Q1?

The Briton appeared keen to avoid this, having positioned himself at the front of the pit lane queue ahead of the session recommencing. When the action resumed Norris put himself into third – but others were also improving, including Alonso who went quickest of all.

Leclerc got himself out of the danger zone while Norris went fastest on a 1m 24.844s, yet disaster struck for Red Bull when a crash for Stroll sparked another red flag – meaning that there was not time for the world champions to improve.

Verstappen’s P12 will become P17 on the grid, with the Dutchman having a five-place grid drop due to a power unit change. The other drivers eliminated in Q2 were Bottas in P11, Perez in P13, Sainz in P14 and Gasly in P15.

Knocked out: Bottas, Verstappen, Perez, Sainz, Gasly