Lando Norris turns the F1 world championship upside down in a chaotic classification with accidents by Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz

The Formula 1 World Championship has entered a new dimension after the chaotic classification of the Brazilian Grand Prix, which has left Lando Norris in pole position and Max Verstappen in seventeenth grill position. After almost two hours of rain and five accidents, Norris has a dramatic cut in the world championship within reach.

The classification has been plagued by accidents, and among them have been those of Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz. The two Spanish drivers have crashed their cars in the rain, and right now their participation in a race that is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. today, in just over three hours, is in doubt.

Verstappen, eliminated in Q2 due to an untimely red flag

Lando Norris could have lost the World Cup in Brazil today, but fortune has made him more alive than ever. He miraculously survived Q1passing the cut in fifteenth place, but from there he began to fly with the intermediate wheels until taking a strong pole position in Interlagos.

Meanwhile, his great rival for the title, Max Verstappen, was shipwrecked in Q2, harmed by a Lance Stroll accident in the last minutes which forced the red flag to be raised when Verstappen was twelfth. If we add the five penalty places he carries, the world championship leader will start seventeenth.

Of course, we will see how many cars participate in the race. Because five have crashed in the classification, among them Alonso and Sainz, but also the aforementioned Stroll, Franco Colapinto and Alexander Albon, who seems the most damaged. We’ll see how many of them arrive in time to repair the car for the race.

Next to Norris is George Russell on the front row, with the same Mercedes with which Lewis Hamilton was eliminated once again in Q1. Behind the front row there is an amalgam of surprise: Yuki Tsunoda is going to start thirdEsteban Ocon is fourth with Alpine and Liam Lawson has placed fifth.

The best Ferrari is that of Charles Leclerc in sixth placeand he will need to come back if he does not want the constructors’ world championship to slip away. Although the relief for them is that Oscar Piastri made a mistake on his last lap and will start even worse, eighth, although that McLaren is doing well in intermediate conditions.

Carlos Sainz accident in Interlagos qualifying!

He lost control of his car and his Ferrari suffered serious damage #BrasilDAZNF1 pic.twitter.com/P9xAyakheM

— DAZN Spain (@DAZN_ES) November 3, 2024

In theory, Fernando Alonso is in ninth position heading into the race, while Sainz is thirteenth, but we will see if they can run, like Albon, seventh, and Stroll, tenth. Sergio Pérez was another of those affected by the red flag and he also fell in Q2, so he will start twelfth.

Formula 1 GP Brazil 2024 classification results