Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc were both astonished by the sudden storm that arrived at the end of qualifying for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Verstappen and Leclerc were two of the first drivers to set a lap in Q3 and benefitted from their track position as the rain approached Interlagos.
Lance Stroll qualified third in front of Aston Martin team-mate Fernando Alonso before qualifying was stopped with six minutes remaining due to the weather. Alonso remarked "it's night" when the storm hit.
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Social media pictures showed a grandstand roof collapsed at the last corner due to the weather. It is understood the race promoter will inspect the stands.
Lightning also surrounded the area in the minutes after qualifying.
Amid the poor weather conditions at the circuit, it is understood there were no serious injuries to spectators. A handful of minor injuries were reported following incidents such as tripping over, and while leaving the site in the rain, but were not related to the grandstands.
The forecast for the remainder of the race weekend is for better weather.
Verstappen, who took his 11th pole position of the 2023 season, described the weather as "insane".
"We lined up to go out for Q3 and you could see the sky was just black. I was like 'wow. If that rain hits, it's going to be a lot'," explained Verstappen.
"The out lap was quite quick. The first sector felt alright and the rest of the lap felt shocking. The rain was coming in, not hitting the track yet but the wind increased a lot and it changed direction to a tail wind in the middle sector and the car was sliding all over the place.
"I was shouting on the radio, 'what the hell happened, we are nowhere'. The team told me to keep pushing because everyone was struggling.
"I have never experienced something like that which had such a big influence on car balance but could also see the weather coming was quite extreme."
Leclerc: Strangest session of my career
There was a queue at the end of the pit lane as the teams anticipated the incoming rain, which Interlagos and F1 has a long history with.
Leclerc thought he was going to be last in Q3 due to how much he was struggling but qualified on the front row, 0.294s behind Verstappen.
"That was probably the strangest session of my career, especially the last run. We had the rain coming, the wind changed completely, and there was no rain around but the grip changed completely," he said.
"It was extremely difficult. We just had to guess where the grip was. I did a good lap, so I'm happy even though it's very, very difficult in those conditions. I'm happy with second place, it's a good place to fight for Sunday."
George Russell, who qualified sixth but later received a two-place grid penalty, added, "This is absolutely crazy. I have never ever seen a change of weather so drastically as that. Just constant lightning."
The Sky F1 team on the sudden change in weather conditions
Martin Brundle:
"I did say it was going to be a biblical storm, but I didn't expect it to be quite that biblical."
Karun Chandhok:
"How quickly did that weather turn?
"Within half an hour we went from sunny skies to this incredible storm."
Simon Lazenby:
"We don't mind a little rain here at Interlagos, but that was tempestuous."
When to watch the Sao Paulo GP live only on Sky Sports F1
Saturday November 4
- 1.30pm: Sprint Shootout build-up
- 2pm: Sao Paulo GP Sprint Shootout
- 5.30pm: Sprint build-up
- 6.30pm: SAO PAULO SPRINT
- 8pm: Ted's Sprint Notebook
Sunday November 5
- 3.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Sao Paulo GP build-up
- 5pm: THE SAO PAULO GRAND PRIX
- 7pm: Chequered Flag: Sao Paulo GP reaction
- 8pm: Ted's Notebook
F1 is in Brazil for the final leg of the Americas triple header and the last Sprint weekend of the 2023 season. Watch every session from the Sao Paulo Grand Prix live on Sky Sports F1, with Sunday's race at 5pm. Stream F1 on Sky Sports with NOW