Verstappen beats Leclerc and Stroll to Sao Paulo pole before storm

The reigning world champion posted a lap 0.294s quicker than Leclerc to deny the Monegasque a hat-trick of poles across the Americas triple-header and seal a front-of-the-grid starting spot for Sunday’s grand prix. 

• F1 Sao Paulo Grand Prix 2023 - Qualifying Results

It marks Verstappen’s 11th pole of a remarkable, record-breaking 2023 campaign but it is the first time he has topped qualifying since last month’s Japanese Grand Prix.

Weather conditions changed dramatically in the final minutes of qualifying and caught several drivers out, before a heavy deluge of rain swept across the Interlagos circuit to bring Q3 to an early end. 

Lance Stroll claimed a brilliant third place for Aston Martin, ahead of teammate Fernando Alonso, who sealed a second row lock-out that will delight the Silverstone-based squad after a difficult second half of the season. 

Lewis Hamilton was over seven-tenths off the pace in fifth, ahead of Mercedes teammate George Russell. 

After topping the second part of qualifying and looking like a favourite to challenge for pole, Lando Norris will be bitterly disappointed to have only qualified seventh, ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz. 

Under-pressure Red Bull driver Sergio Perez was a disappointing ninth after being caught out by yellow flags caused by McLaren’s Oscar Piastri going off at the final corner.

After being one of the stars of qualifying last week in Mexico, Daniel Ricciardo had a hero-to-zero moment as he suffered a Q1 elimination in 17th, behind AlphaTauri teammate Yuki Tsunoda. 

Only Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas, Williams’ Logan Sargeant and Zhou Guanyu were slower than the AlphaTauri pair.