Qualifying Highlights | 2024 Sao Paulo Grand Prix

Liam Lawson, a couple of moments before, this is how the RB driver skated off the road to bring out the yellow flags. Here's the second car to struggle, locking up this time, Joe Guanyu. Identical carbon copy of what we saw from Lawson there, gets it spun around. Lance Stroll doing a very similar thing, just taking to the grass. The red flag is out. George Russell is only 18th. Franco Colapinto appears to be into the barriers. And the Argentine favourite, with so much support around this circuit, set the really tricky task of going out on the full wet tyre. And he finds the barrier to bring out the red flag. And our first interruption, the most important thing is that he is OK. And it was always going to be tricky for him to master these conditions. Sorry mate. You can hear that he's understandably downbeat on the radio. But that was always going to be a tricky learning experience and devastation for the Williams mechanics. These are incredible conditions the drivers now have to master to find their best lap when it matters. And the World Championship is on the line. In the drivers category, Philando Norris and Lewis Hamilton. Sends Norris to the drop zone with the chequered flag out. And this now has to be a massive improvement in sector 2 and sector 3, or Norris is out. You saw how difficult it was for Hamilton to get the power down out of 12, just chasing it. Let's hear his radio. Damn car, man. It's not just the car, it's the conditions he's in right now. Personal best for Norris in sector 2. Albon goes to the front of the field. Lawson is improving. Verstappen is in 12th, but he's got a personal best first sector. Russell goes to 2nd. So much can still change. Norris, has he fired up those tyres when he needed to? Gasly goes to 4th. Norris goes to 14th. Hamilton is now the driver at risk. Hamilton is now in the drop zone. Liam Lawson improves to 14th position. And Max Verstappen was trying to eke out more time there. But he finds himself in 12th. Norris has gone over the line. Ocon has gone up to 3rd. Zhou Guan Yu is still on a lap, but he only improves his lap time. Verstappen is the fastest driver out there. And no one behind Norris has an improvement at this stage. Hamilton finds himself out in the first part of qualifying. Along with Oliver Behrmann, Franco Colopinto, who hit the barriers. Nico Hülkenberg and Zhou Guan Yu. Fastest driver through the first sector is Lance Stroll. Who has won Formula 1 pole position to his name. Set in conditions just like this. Back in the Turkish Grand Prix of 2020. Over the line we go with George Russell in 2nd. But is it the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz who has brought out that flag? The answer is yes. Heavily into the wall goes the Ferrari. Grip level is good. You see not a lot of standing water. Then you see go downhill. Oh, wow. On the power. Down the hill. In almost a straight line. Oh, my gosh. Sorry, guys. Norris is improving on Alonso's benchmark time. Alex Alban, fastest of anyone in the session so far. And Max Verstappen will be looking over his shoulder. He's in the drop zone now. Thanks to that effort from Charles Leclerc who goes up to 3rd. And Lance Stroll is static on our driver tracker. There is a yellow flag out. There is Lando Norris at the head of the field. Can Alex Alban complete this lap? Lawson's improving. Verstappen in the drop zone. So is Liam Lawson. This is not the yellow flag part of the circuit. Minute to go. Across the line for 4th position for Alex Alban. Really delivering in these wet conditions. So is Liam Lawson. Up to 4th place for him. Bottas in the drop zone along with the 2 Red Bulls. Max Verstappen needs a lap. The pendulum swung the other way. So the red flag is out. The red flag is out with 46 seconds on the clock. Lance Stroll found the wall. The 3rd car to find the barrier today. He was trying to recover. But the red flag is out. That is not enough time to restart the session. This could be the moment that changes the World Championship. Not for Lance. Not for Aston Martin. No one would have predicted Verstappen, Perez and Sainz out in Q2. But my word. That is what we have. Esteban Ocon takes provisional pole. With Oscar Piastri improving behind. The 2nd lap on the intermediate tyres. With the temperature in them always seems to improve. Piastri surely going to take it away. And does so. Provisional pole with 7 minutes to go. Albon gets ahead of Piastri. That's a superb lap from Alex Albon. It's good enough for 2nd right now. As Alonso brings out the red flag. This is on board with Fernando Alonso. Let's listen in. A big hit into the barriers. Are you ok mate? Yeah, sorry. And the man who went past 400 Grand Prix appearances last week. Finds himself with an uncharacteristic error in the rain. We have 8 cars still on the racetrack. But only just. A huge cheer from the crowd. As they saw Charles Leclerc find himself trying to hang on to it. And now a huge cheer from the grandstand. Because Alex Albon, I can see out of the commentary box window. Has hit the barriers. And the driver in 2nd position in the standings. Reports that he's ok. But that is a massive accident. To bring out the 5th red flag of the day. This is the moment that sent the Thai driver locking wheels. Spinning the car and into the barrier. Did the brakes fail? We're checking. Alex, are you ok? Yeah. Yuki Tsunoda is going very quickly further back. He's giving it everything. A driver who in conditions today has seemed inspired. Liam Lawson isn't too far away. If he can keep that gap to Lando Norris. Lawson probably could improve to the top 3. Maybe even the front row. Yuki Tsunoda is going even quicker. This is remarkable stuff for the FIA Interface team. Lawson to the line. Lawson to 2nd position. Extraordinary. But if you think that's extraordinary. Wait for Yuki Tsunoda to come out of the spray. To climb the hill. And he misses out by 19 thousandths of a second. Ocon goes again. Tsunoda on for his maiden front row. Ocon equals his personal best qualifying in Formula 1. And whilst we have names that we didn't expect. The man chasing down the World Championship lead. Is faster still. It's surely an improvement to the front. That will stay pole position for Lando Norris. Still attacking at the end, George Russell. 2nd position for Russell. What a final sector for George Russell when it mattered. Charles Leclerc tries to take it away. And cannot. 6th position for him. Oskar Piastri looking to try and improve. And this final runs he's not had the pace. The chequered flag is out. And I cannot believe what we've just witnessed at the end there. Russell improved to deny Yuki Tsunoda a front row. Ocon was fast in all of the conditions. And Liam Lawson has a top 5 start in Formula 1. Out front though. The man who was given an enormous opportunity. Nearly knocked out in Q1. At the end of the qualifying hour. It's pole position for Lando Norris. And Super Sunday in Sao Paulo might be underselling it.