![\"Penalties](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/SI202611070609.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLiam Lawson during qualifying for the Formula 1 Sao Paulo Grand Prix in Brazil. Image: Mark Thompson\/Getty Images<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLiam Lawson during qualifying for the Formula 1 Sao Paulo Grand Prix in Brazil. Image: Mark Thompson\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
The Racing Bulls driver qualified fifth in Saturday\u2019s rain-disrupted session<\/a> but will move up two positions following penalties for George Russell and Charles Leclerc<\/a>, putting him on the second row alongside Nico Hulkenberg.<\/p>\n Lawson is one of several drivers to benefit from the penalties, which have affected nearly a quarter of the 22-driver field, with pole-sitter Lando Norris the only driver set to start from the position he qualified in<\/a>.<\/p>\n Russell qualified second but drops five places to seventh, promoting newly crowned world champion Kimi Antonelli<\/a> alongside Norris on the front row.<\/p>\n Leclerc, meanwhile, falls from fourth to 14th following a 10-place penalty, allowing Lawson to claim third ahead of Hulkenberg, with Isack Hadjar<\/a> and Oliver Bearman<\/a> completing the top six.<\/p>\n Fernando Alonso<\/a>, Alex Albon and Oscar Piastri<\/a> complete the top 10 behind Russell, with the Australian gaining two spots despite failing to reach Q3 for the second consecutive race<\/a>.<\/p>\n Further down the grid, Lewis Hamilton<\/a>, Max Verstappen<\/a> and Sergio Perez will occupy the final three starting positions following extensive penalties for power unit changes.<\/p>\n Hamilton faces a 75-place grid penalty after further power unit changes, with the Ferrari driver having encountered a problem with an earlier new engine during final practice.<\/p>\n He will nevertheless start 20th, ahead of Verstappen and Perez, who received 30-place penalties apiece. Their positions at the back are determined by their qualifying order.<\/p>\n The grid remains provisional, with further changes possible before it is officially confirmed ahead of the race, which begins at 2pm local time on Sunday (4am AEDT Monday).<\/p>\n Provisional Sao Paulo Grand Prix starting grid:<\/p>\n 1. Lando Norris<\/a> (McLaren) * Penalty<\/p>\n In this story<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Liam Lawson during qualifying for the Formula 1 Sao Paulo Grand Prix in Brazil. Image: Mark Thompson\/Getty Images…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":956797,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[572],"tags":[64,63,3352,806,805,803,804,153338,6490,85],"class_list":["post-956796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-motosport","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-liam-lawson","tag-motor","tag-motor-sports","tag-motosport","tag-motosports","tag-sao-paulo-gp","tag-slot3","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/956796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=956796"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/956796\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/956797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=956796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=956796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=956796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
2. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
3. Liam Lawson<\/a> (Racing Bulls<\/a>)
4. Nico Hulkenberg (Audi)
5. Isack Hadjar (Red Bull)
6. Oliver Bearman (Haas)
7. George Russell* (Mercedes)
8. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
9. Alex Albon (Williams)
10. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
11. Rafael Camara (Haas)
12. Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls)
13. Carlos Sainz (Williams)
14. Charles Leclerc* (Ferrari)
15. Franco Colapinto (Alpine)
16. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
17. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
18. Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac)
19. Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi)
20. Lewis Hamilton* (Ferrari)
21. Max Verstappen* (Red Bull)
22. Sergio Perez* (Cadillac)<\/p>\n