Lewis Hamilton’s chance of making up for recent frustrations with a strong run in the Sao Paulo GP took a major blow after power unit penalties sent him to the back of the grid for Sunday’s race. 

It also meant that he made only a token effort in the sort of soaking wet qualifying session in which he normally thrives.

The man who benefited most from the conditions was Lando Norris, who couldn't have anticipated that he would secure pole in Brazil. The McLaren driver put in a superb performance to be fastest.

'Today was a good day, we're on pole,' said the outgoing World Champion. 'A nice surprise in some ways. A good reward for the team, a good reward for myself.'

Hamilton is one of four star drivers from the leading teams to take a penalty hit at Interlagos, a legacy of reaching the last few races of a long season amid mounting mileage on tired and fragile engines.

In Hamilton’s case the drop is more serious than had been anticipated by his team.

Ferrari decided to change the internal combustion engine on the cars of Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, knowing that they would have to take the plunge at some point.

That saddled both men with an initial 10-place drop – costly, but not disastrous given that Interlagos is a track where overtaking is at least possible.

However, in Friday’s final FP3 practice session Hamilton’s fresh V6 failed after just a few laps, obliging the former World Champion to take another complete new power unit.

That move accrued more penalties and consigned him to the back, where he joins Max Verstappen, whose Red Bull has undergone a similar wholesale change.

George Russell also drops five places after the Mercedes man took a new V6, having been second fastest in the wet qualifying session. His front row spot thus goes to team mate Kimi Antonelli.

It is far from over for Hamilton or Verstappen, but making it to the top three will require some good fortune. The Dutch driver pointed out that overtaking will be more difficult without the DRS tool that is no longer on the cars in 2026, and Hamilton agreed.

'I think overtaking will be very, very, very hard,' said the Ferrari ace. 'I'm not sure you're going to see the same sort of races that you've seen in the past.'

The penalties for so many top runners open up the possibility for better than anticipated results for those not affected and who made the most of the wet qualifying session – notably Kiwi Liam Lawson, who starts a surprise third for Racing Bulls. 

Read more: Ferrari boss orders feuding drivers Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc to make peace at crunch summit before Brazil GP