Brazilian Grand Prix qualifying red flagged after huge storm hits Sao Paulo

The FIA has red-flagged qualifying at the 2026 Brazilian Grand Prix as heavy rain pours at Interlagos.

After a dry FP3 session earlier on Saturday afternoon, conditions changed in Sao Paulo in the lead-up to qualifying, which got underway at 15:00 local time (BRT).

The drivers did head out from their garage, but the FIA decided to red-flag the session just two minutes and 23 seconds into the session, with heavy rain continuing to fall.

In those opening four minutes, no drivers were able to set a lap time.

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Qualifying halted at Brazilian Grand Prix

The FIA has not yet confirmed when the qualifying action will resume, with the latest from the sport's governing body stating that rain is expected until 15:28 local time at which point the track will be assessed for standing water.

Sky Sports F1 pundit Bernie Collins is optimistic the session will soon resume.

"This rain is really intense. It has come very quickly and caught a few teams out," Collins said live on Sky Sports.

"It should be starting to ease off from now. As you can see from the pictures, that green rain over the track is much lighter than what we've just experienced.

"So it should be starting to ease off, and then it will be how quickly we get green-flag conditions, and then hopefully it dries a little bit through Q1."

Brazilian GP weather forecast

There is a continued threat of rain into the evening in Sao Paulo, and any wet running the drivers complete today could come in handy on Sunday.

Currently, there is a strong chance of rain predicted throughout the morning and into the early afternoon ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix, with a 63 per cent chance of rain when the lights are scheduled to go out at 14:00 local time.

There is also a yellow storm alert in place for the Sao Paulo region on Sunday, from 00:00 to 23:59 local time.

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