Sao Paulo Qaulifying: Max Verstappen snatches pole before qualifying is halted by heavy rain

Red Bull's triple Formula One world champion Max Verstappen beat the weather and his rivals to pole position for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix on Friday, despite what he called "insane" weather conditions at Interlagos.

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc joined Verstappen on the front row, with Aston Martins Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso third and fourth.

As storm clouds loomed, Verstappen was quick out of the pits, putting in a flying lap to secure provisional pole before gusting winds, rain, and flashes of lightning brought the race to a halt.

"We didn’t know when it would hit in qualifying, we thought it would hit. This is of course insane weather," said the 26-year-old, who won his third title last month in Qatar and now has 11 poles for the season.

Verstappen, who will be chasing his record-extending 17th win of the season and 52nd of his career on Sunday, wasted no time in the final phase and passed last year's winner George Russell's Mercedes in the pitlane exit.

Leclerc, who had been on pole for the previous two races, was 0.294 seconds slower.

Stroll, who will start in the top three for only the fourth time in his career, described the session as tricky.

"We were fortunate with the rain that came in, we got our lap in early," said the Canadian.

Mercedes' seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton qualified fifth, with Russell initially sixth but later demoted two positions for impeding.

McLaren's Lando Norris is now sixth, with Ferrari's Carlos Sainz seventh.

Red Bull's Sergio Perez, who is battling Hamilton for second overall in the championship but is only 20 points ahead, was forced to slow down on his lap after Piastri crashed and qualified ninth.

Piastri, who qualified tenth, said he had just lost a lot of grip as the rain began to fall.

Alpine's Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly were also penalized two places for impeding after qualifying in 12th and 13th place, respectively.

Daniel Ricciardo, who qualified fourth for AlphaTauri in the previous race in Mexico, qualified only 17th this time.

Interlagos is hosting Formula One's final sprint weekend of the season, with the grid for Sunday's grand prix set on Friday and a sprint qualifying'shootout' followed by a standalone 100km race on Saturday.

SportsLigue