SAO PAULO – Qualifying for Sunday's Brazilian Grand Prix has been postponed until Sunday morning due to heavy rain at the Interlagos circuit in Sao Paulo.

Less than an hour before the scheduled start time of 3 p.m., a thunderstorm hit the circuit, followed by persistent rain.

After confirming the session would be delayed, the FIA ​​carried out track inspections every 15 minutes before confirming the postponement at 4:45 p.m. local time.

“The decision was made due to the lack of visibility due to the heavy rains in the last few hours,” an FIA statement said. “There is a lot of water on parts of the circuit, making the conditions unsafe.

“As much as we would all like to see competition on the track, the safety of riders, team members, volunteers, officials and spectators is our top priority.”

“A decision on the start time for qualifying tomorrow morning will be made as quickly as possible.”

F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali added: “Now the FIA ​​is finalizing when is the right time to organize qualifying and is pursuing a plan for the end of the day, because as you know it is a great event and we have to implement them. “Of course we can maximize everything under all acceptable conditions.”

The last time a qualifying session was delayed until race day was at the 2019 Japanese Grand Prix, when Typhoon Hagibis made landfall on qualifying day.

Saturday's sprint race took place on Saturday morning in dry conditions. Lando Norris secured victory after teammate Oscar Piastri was ordered by McLaren to give up the lead.

Sunday's Brazilian Grand Prix looks set to be a crucial moment in the title fight between Max Verstappen and Norris, with the Red Bull driver 44 points ahead of the McLaren driver after Saturday's sprint race.

Verstappen faces a penalty of five places on the grid regardless of where he qualified for Sunday's race after his Red Bull was fitted with a different engine on Friday that exceeded his quota for the season.