Published Sunday, 8 November 2026, 2:25 a.m. ET (4:25 a.m. in São Paulo) · Source: Formula 1 and the FIA, motor racing’s governing body
Key Facts
- Pole. Lando Norris of McLaren took pole in the rain with 1:27.470. Mercedes’ George Russell starts seventh.
- Race. Sunday, 8 November, 2 p.m. in São Paulo, which is noon ET (Eastern Time).
- Back row. Ferrari’s Hamilton, Red Bull’s Verstappen and Cadillac’s Pérez start 20th to 22nd after engine penalties.
- Why it matters. Mercedes leads Ferrari, the sport’s other top team, by 126 points with four rounds left, and a wet race scrambles the order.
- Prediction markets. Antonelli 39.5%, Norris 31.5%, Verstappen 13.0% to win the race (Polymarket betting market, 8 November, 2:23 a.m. ET).
Rain turned Saturday’s qualifying at Interlagos, São Paulo’s racetrack, into a stop-start scramble, and it left Formula 1 with one of its strangest starting grids of the year. Lando Norris of McLaren holds pole for today’s São Paulo Grand Prix, while three big names start from the back.
The race begins at 2 p.m. local time, which is noon ET (Eastern Time). Our São Paulo Grand Prix 2026 hub carries every session.
How Rain Rewrote Qualifying
Qualifying is the Saturday session that sets the grid. It runs in three knockout rounds, and the fastest lap in the last round wins pole.
The first round began on a wet track, and a red flag stopped it less than three minutes in. All 22 drivers used full-wet tyres, the deepest-tread rain tyre.
In the second round, a red flag came with under a minute left after Rafael Câmara crashed into a barrier. The final round began after a delay to clear the crash site, and the rain grew heavier.
Norris stopped the clock at 1:27.470, 0.204 seconds clear of Mercedes’ George Russell on 1:27.674.” It’s been a long day,” Norris said afterwards, according to Formula 1’s report.
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli, the 20-year-old who has already won the 2026 drivers’ title, was third-fastest, 0.625 seconds off the pace. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was fourth.
Who Starts Where
Grid penalties changed the picture. This is a selection of positions, and the order is provisional until the FIA, the sport’s governing body, confirms it.
- 1st: Lando Norris, McLaren (pole)
- 2nd: Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes
- 3rd: Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls (a Red Bull sister team)
- 4th: Nico Hülkenberg, Audi (the German carmaker’s F1 team)
- 5th: Isack Hadjar, Red Bull
- 7th: George Russell, Mercedes (second on the road, five-place penalty)
- 14th: Charles Leclerc, Ferrari (fourth on the road, ten-place penalty)
- 20th to 22nd: Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari), Max Verstappen (Red Bull) and Sergio Pérez (Cadillac)
Why Three Stars Start at the Back
Each driver may use only a set number of engine parts per season. Go over the limit and the sport hands out grid drops, which are places lost on the starting grid.
The combustion engine is the petrol half of a modern F1 power unit. Russell takes five places for an engine change.
Leclerc loses ten because Ferrari exceeded the season allowance for the combustion engine on his car. Hamilton also loses ten places, and Ferrari then replaced his whole power unit after the new engine suffered problems in practice.
That sends him to the back of the field. Verstappen’s Red Bull team went over the limit on several parts, adding up to 30 places of penalties, which also means a back-row start.
Pérez, whose Cadillac team fitted a new engine, a turbocharger (which boosts engine power) and an electric motor-generator, starts at the back too. Formula 1 did not say how many places that cost him.
Why It Matters Beyond the Grid
Antonelli clinched the drivers’ title in Mexico City last weekend, so this race is about pride and the team table. Mercedes leads Ferrari by 126 points, 630 to 504, with four rounds left including this one.
Second place in the drivers’ standings is still open. Verstappen has 261 points and Hamilton 259, and both start from the back, so a cautious wet race could shape that fight.
Passing at Interlagos is possible but rarely easy. A back-row start in the rain is a gamble that sometimes pays off, because safety cars bunch the field.
What Prediction Markets Say
Polymarket, a US-based prediction-market platform where users trade real-money contracts, lists a market on the race winner that has traded US$145,826. As of 8 November at 2:23 a.m. ET, Antonelli stood at 39.5%, Norris at 31.5%, Verstappen at 13.0% and Russell at 8.5%.
Prices are bets, not forecasts from the teams. Why we show this: prediction markets turn real-money bets into a live probability that moves within minutes of the news, which is why investors, campaigns and newsrooms in the United States now follow them closely.
We show them next to polls and official results, never instead of them.
What It Means for US Readers
The race starts at noon ET, a Sunday-lunch slot on the East Coast and 9 a.m. on the West Coast. Pole position matters less in a wet race than usual.
Watch the first lap, when the field is tightest, and any early safety car.
What Is Not Known
We could not confirm a race-time forecast, so how much rain falls is open. The size of Pérez’s penalty is also unconfirmed, and the grid may change until the FIA publishes the final version.
Read our weekend preview, the story on Russell’s penalty and the Interlagos travel and schedule guide.
More: Brazil news, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
What time does the São Paulo Grand Prix start in the United States?
The race starts at noon ET on Sunday, 8 November, which is 2 p.m. in São Paulo.
Who starts on pole at Interlagos?
Lando Norris of McLaren starts first after a 1:27.470 lap in rain-hit qualifying. Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli lines up second once penalties are applied.
Sources: Formula 1 qualifying report and penalty notices (7 November 2026), FIA qualifying report, Formula 1 results tables, Polymarket (8 November 2026, 2:23 a.m. ET).
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated AI newsroom. Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief. How we use AI · Report an error
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