Kimi Antonelli, who earned a sprint pole in Miami, split the McLaren cars and will start on the front row alongside Norris.

George Russell and a stunning Fernando Alonso round off an all Mercedes-powered top five.

Fans have got used to seeing Max Verstappen back at the head of the grid in recent times, but the Dutchman has been off the pace all weekend and qualified only P6.

Lance Stroll and Charles Leclerc share the fourth row on the grid followed by Isack Hadjar and Nico Hulkenberg in P9 and P10.

Lewis Hamilton was under investigation from the stewards for failing to slow under yellow flags at the end of SQ2 but was given a reprimand and will retain his a disappointing P11.

See the complete grid below:

With the threat of a cyclone in the Sao Paulo region on Saturday, the FIA and Formula One are closely monitoring the situation.

Around 30 to 60 millimetres of rain per hour and extreme gusts of wind are forecast, with the worst of the weather expected during the morning.

The sprint is scheduled for 11:00 local time and is likely to be impacted by bad weather.

Regulations dictate that there must be at least a three-hour gap between the end of the Sprint and the start of qualifying, which is due to take place at 15:00 local time.

The FIA could opt to move qualifying to Sunday morning to give more time to make the Sprint happen.

With a total of eight points up for grabs at the sprint race, Lando Norris will hope he gets an opportunity to capitalise on his sprint race pole and extend his championship lead over Piastri to more than one point.

Max Verstappen starts P6 but has form around Brazil in the wet and won last year's Brazil GP from P17 on the grid in treacherous conditions.

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