Lando Norris scored his third successive pole position at Interlagos while McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri faltered.
Here is PlanetF1.com’s full list of winners and losers from the 2026 Sao Paulo Grand Prix qualifying.
Winners and losers from the 2026 Sao Paulo Grand Prix qualifying
Winner: Lando Norris
Starting with the seemingly obvious entry. Norris has not always had the car to showcase his best qualities this year, but with a major upgrade involving changes to the front and rear wings and the floor, the outgoing champion put in a mighty display.
In the heavily delayed Q1, he was immediately on the pace and never looked in trouble as the track improved throughout and the times fell.
Q2 was a slightly more tense session but, as the rain began to intensify in Q3, Norris made sure there was no messing about, as he set a 1:27.470 to top the order by 0.204 from Mercedes’ George Russell.
It should be noted that his path to pole was eased somewhat when Max Verstappen, another driver who had been at the top in Q1, called time on his session early, preserving mileage and tyres given he had a back-of-the-grid penalty for an engine change.
But this doesn’t take away from Norris’ performance in the slightest, as you can only beat those who are on the track with you.
Loser: Oscar Piastri
Sticking with McLaren, and if qualifying was a triumph for Norris, it was close to a humiliation for Piastri.
The Australian has rarely looked comfortable with this year’s McLaren, a trend that had begun to show in the final third of last year’s failed title bid, and he was again no match for Norris.
In both Q1 and Q2, Piastri was over a second off the pace of his teammate, and he ultimately qualified with the 12th-fastest time – one position behind Lewis Hamilton. While this may not sound bad at first glance, Hamilton gave up on qualifying due to his own back-of-the-grid penalty for an engine change, halfway through Q2. He had also set his fastest time on wet tyres, while Piastri had switched to the intermediates by the end of the session.
With so many contracts up at the end of next year, Piastri can ill afford for this level of performance to continue, or he could well find himself having some tough conversations with Zak Brown and Andrea Stella.
More on the Brazilian GP
Brazilian GP: Lando Norris on pole in wet-weather thriller
F1 Brazil grid 2026: The full starting order at Interlagos with penalties
Winner: Fernando Alonso
An Aston Martin in Q3? Your eyes were not deceiving you. Alonso rolled back the years in qualifying with a timely reminder to his doubters just why he is still regarded as one of the best drivers on the grid.
His Honda power unit may have all the punch of a damp handkerchief, but in the treacherous São Paulo conditions, Alonso was able to negate this shortcoming to trouble the established names at the top of the order for much of Q1 and Q2.
Indeed, there was even a passing thought that the Spaniard could steal an unfancied pole position as he led the field out for Q3 and the conditions deteriorated.
Ninth place may not sound like a win, but for a team so often stuck in the mud this year, it most certainly is a positive result.
Loser: Gabriel Bortoleto
Gabriel Bortoleto really needs to have a word with Rubens Barrichello, given his poor fortune on home soil.
A long wait for some action, a crash which damaged his rear wing, and that was all she wrote as Bortoleto limped out of qualifying.
Yes, the conditions were dreadful, and anyone could have made the same mistake that he did at Juncao – some did! – but when the opportunity was there to secure a potential top-10 berth, it had to be taken.
Highlighting the pace of the Audi was Nico Hulkenberg who, like Alonso, was a constant thorn in those at the front, so gains an honorary mention here.
One positive: the camouflage livery being run by Audi this week looked epic as Bortoleto sloshed through the mud.
Loser: Alpine
Speaking of those who threw away a golden opportunity, no one did this quite as well as Alpine on Saturday, as the team watched both Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly drop out of qualifying in Q1.
Bafflingly, there appeared to be no specific problem; both cars were just slow, over three-tenths back on the next slowest cars in Q1, it wasn’t even a close-run thing.
That does not bode well for a potentially wet race.
Alpine retains hopes of finishing fifth in the constructors’ championship, a position currently held by the impressive Racing Bulls team, who had Liam Lawson qualify in fifth – third, after Russell and Charles Leclerc’s penalties are applied.
With Haas enjoying a stronger showing from Ollie Bearman, and a promising debut for Rafael Camara, it could well be that the team leaves Brazil looking more over its shoulder than at those ahead.
