Norris claims pole in chaotic Sao Paulo qualifying; Verstappen starts 17th

Lando Norris clinched pole position in a rainy, chaotic qualifying session Sunday morning in Sao Paulo ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix.

The session was delayed by one day due to heavy rain following Saturday's sprint race, which Norris also won.

"There was a lot going on," Norris said after qualifying, according to Andrew Benson of BBC Sport. "I was struggling a lot at the start of the session, I worked on it a lot in the session. A little surprised to be on pole but a good result for us."

Championship leader Max Verstappen was controversially unable to complete a final lap during the second qualifying session due to a red flag caused by a Lance Stroll crash. As a result, Verstappen will start Sunday's race from P17 after qualifying 12th and serving a five-place grid penalty.

After Stroll crashed during Q2, a yellow flag indicator began at approximately 1:37. It wasn't upgraded to a red flag until there was 0:47 remaining in the session, effectively ending Q2. Numerous cars were able to complete their final laps in the time between the yellow and red. Verstappen was not among them.

"I find it unbelievable," Verstappen said. "The car goes into the wall, broken. It's clearly destroyed, but they wait 30, 40 seconds, and the others can complete their lap times, and of course the ones behind cannot. ... It's so stupid to talk about. It's ridiculous."

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner added: "We don't understand why it took so long for the red flag to come out. It's the second day in a row that we've had very late calls whether it was the virtual safety car yesterday or the red flag today. The other red flags were all instantaneous."

Meanwhile, Ferrari's Carlos Sainz, who won the last F1 race in Mexico, will start from the pit lane after changing a power unit and gearbox due to a crash, per Benson.

Williams driver Alex Albon won't take part in the race after finishing seventh during the session because his car sustained too much damage when he hit a wall, according to Benson. Teammate Franco Colapinto, who was also involved in a wreck, will take part in Sunday's main event.

The race is slated to start at 10:30 a.m. ET.