Overnight, an orange alert was issued for the Sao Paulo region, with forecasts predicting extreme conditions with 30 to 60 millimetres of rain per hour and strong gusts of wind for Saturday.

This had raised concerns that the Sprint race might have been at risk or postoponed, given that the worst of the bad weather was expected to hit in the morning.

In the end, however, the 100-km dash went ahead as planned, though the track remained slightly damp with patches of moisture that caused a few headaches for the drivers — as shown by the incidents involving Oscar Piastri, Nico Hülkenberg and Franco Colapinto, who all spun off exiting Turn 3 on the wet curb.

According to the latest updates from the FIA radar, no rain is currently expected for qualifying, meaning the drivers should face a dry session — just like yesterday.

The situation is improving, but there’s still a moderate chance of showers up to level 3, increasing right after qualifying gets underway. Temperatures are expected to hover around 25°C.

In a Sprint race held in dry but tricky conditions, Norris managed to convert yesterday’s pole into a crucial victory, crossing the line first despite heavy pressure from Kimi Antonelli in the closing laps.

The Brit collected eight valuable points over his teammate, who crashed at Turn 3 in the opening laps, losing crucial ground in the title fight and now sitting nine points adrift.