Summary

  • Verstappen wins, Ocon 2nd, Gasly 3rd

  • Verstappen carved through field from 17th on grid

  • Red flag after heavy Colapinto crash during torrential rain

  • Russell overtook Norris off the line; both lost out as heavy rain falls during pitstops

  • Hulkenberg disqualified; Sainz out

  • Start had been aborted after Stroll spun out on formation lap

  • Norris earlier took pole during chaotic delayed qualifying

  • Albon did not compete in grand prix after crash

  • Get involved #bbcf1

Live Reporting

Lorraine McKenna

  1. Drop zone

    16. Alex Albon

    17. Zhou Guanyu

    18. George Russell

    19. Valtteri Bottas

    20. Lewis Hamilton

  2. red flag

    Red flag

    The red flag is shown and it's for Franco Colapinto. The Williams has gone into the barriers and radios to say he is OK.

  3. 10 minutes to go

    Lance Stroll is off the track again, his Aston Martin going straight on at Turn Five. George Russell and Carlos Sainz, meanwhile, get close to each in the slippery conditions. But now the Mercedes man thinks there is not much standing water, so the team need to think about switching to the inters.

    lance strollg

  4. Jolyon Palmer
    Former Renault driver on BBC Radio 5 Live

    These times could well count if the session is stopped at any moment.

  5. Team radio - Norris

    Engineer: "Thoughts on the track?"

    Norris: "Yeah, a bit of aquaplaning down to Turn Four. Otherwise not too bad. Just low grip."

  6. Bottas switches to inters

    OK, Sauber have called Valtteri Bottas in and the Finn is being fitted with the green intermediates.

  7. 'High tension and high pressure'

    Jolyon Palmer
    Former Renault driver on BBC Radio 5 Live

    This is going to be a really fascinating start, let's not forget there's massively high tension and high pressure on this qualifying session.

    Let's not forget Max Verstappen is carrying a five-second grid penalty wherever he qualifies. I think he's going to be a happy man with these conditions and the uncertainty this provides.

  8. Ocon goes quickest

    Esteban Ocon puts the furst quick marker on the board with 1:30.096 followed by the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso and the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz.

    Zhou Guanyu suffers the same lock up as Liam Lawson at Turn 12 on his cold blue tyres. Lance Stroll also goes across the grass in his Aston Martin.

  9. Harry Benjamin
    BBC F1 Commentator

    Rain is expected to get more intense though in the next 15 minutes so this first qualifying session is absolutely critical.

  10. Track clear

    Liam Lawson has managed to get going again in his RB and the circuit is clear again. The New Zealander locked up at Turn 12 and just carried on off the track.

  11. Get Involved

    #BBCF1

    Matthew Murnaghan: This is one of the earliest qualifying sessions we've had in a long time, I remember there was a qualifying in Japan that aired at 2am in the UK!

  12. yellow flag

    Yellow flag

    The full-wet tyres are the compound of choice across the field. There is a yellow flag already in the final sector. It looks like Liam Lawson has spun already in the RB.

  13. 'It's still sodden out there and drizzling'

    Jolyon Palmer
    Former Renault driver on BBC Radio 5 Live

    I think we are going to at least start Q1, I have to say the weather doesn't look that much different to yesterday afternoon, it's still sodden out there and drizzling.

    The rain is looking not as heavy as yesterday afternoon but it has been and the track is soaked but let's hope we can get some running.

  14. Go! Go! Go!

    It's a very early start for the teams and drivers. The earliest qualifying session ever in Formula 1.

    Off we go!

    Carlos Sainz making a coffee with Fred Vasseur watchingGetty Images

  15. 'Give us better wet tyres!'

    Lewis Hamilton and Stefano DomenicaliGetty Images

    Lewis Hamilton had some words for Stefano Domenicali after yesterday's wet qualifying.

    The F1 president was interrupted by seven-time world champion Hamilton while doing an interview for F1TV, who joked: "If you give us better wet tyres or blankets we'd be able to run in this. I'm putting you on the spot right now!"

    As for the tyres that have been brought to Interlagos, Pirelli have gone one step softer than last year, with the C3 (hard, white), C4 (medium, yellow) and the C5 (soft, red) the compounds of choice.

    The green intermediates and those wet-weather blue tyres have also made the journey and will bolted on straight away.

    Alpine have just told Pierre Gasly the rain is set to increase in around 15 minutes or so.

  16. McLaren extend title lead

    A one-two in the sprint race helped McLaren extended their advantage over second-placed Ferrari to 34 points with four races, including one more sprint event, to go. With that point docked for Max Verstappen, Red Bull are now 63 points off McLaren's total in third.

    Teams standingsGetty Images

  17. Norris closes gap on Verstappen

    Drivers top 10Getty Images

    The sprint race went ahead as planned yesterday, so the small points on offer were collected up by most of the drivers in the top 10 (Pierre Gasly finished seventh to add two points to his tally).

    Lando Norris finished first after some McLaren team orders and after Max Verstappen was handed a five-second time penalty following a safety car infringement, demoting him from third to fourth, the gap between the pair is now 44 points with 112 points still on the table.

  18. What is the weather forecast?

    Ian Fergusson
    BBC weather forecaster

    Marshals check the racetrack before the qualifying session for the Formula One Sao Paulo Grand PrixGetty Images

    Air temperature is 19.8C and the track 22C. Light and variable wind. Overcast, with light rain; moderate rates at times.

    FIA official risk of rain is 100%; trend is a risk of heavier rain today including for the race.

  19. What happened on Saturday?

    Andrew Benson
    BBC F1 correspondent

    RainGetty Images

    The qualifying session had been due to start at 15:00 local time (18:00 UK) on Saturday.

    A decision was finally made at 16:45 local time, after a series of delays, that the track was too wet and conditions were not going to improve.

    A joint statement from governing body the FIA and Formula 1 said: “The decision was taken not to proceed with qualifying due to poor visibility, standing water on the track and fading light.

    “Safety is always the paramount consideration in such circumstances and, while as much time as possible was given to allow conditions to improve, they sadly did not.”

    Lance StrollGetty Images

    The forecast of more heavy rain from mid-afternoon in Sao Paulo on Sunday led to the decision to bring the race start time forward.

    That meant moving qualifying to an early start time in Brazil because rules mandate that there has to be a minimum of four hours between the end of qualifying and the start of the race.

  20. Good morning

    Franco ColapintoGetty Images

    Hello, folks. I hope you enjoyed your tea last night! Who knows what we'll have to talk about today if the weather puts a dampener on the Sao Paulo Grand Prix - main race and qualifying.

    So... the forecast does not look good, meaning this could be a long Sunday.

    But! There is a pocket of decent weather on the radar, which is why the schedule has been brought forward.

    As it stands, qualifying will get under way at 10:30 GMT.

    Lights out for the main event are now at 15:30 GMT.

    Both sessions will be live on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, BBC Sounds and at the top of this page using the 'listen live' tab. You can also ask BBC Sounds via most smart speakers to play Sao Paulo Grand Prix, followed by the current session.