Haas F1 Team drivers Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher qualified 1st and 20th respectively for Saturday's 24-lap Sprint race - the result of which will then determine the grid for Sunday's 71-lap Sao Paulo Grand Prix, Round 21 of the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship hosted at the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace.

In the final qualifying session, the sky began to darken again, and Magnussen started the session on a new set of Red soft tires. His first lap time of a 1:11.674 took him to the top of the timings before Mercedes' George Russell brought out a red flag for beaching his car at Turn 4.

The stricken Mercedes removed, the session resumed with eight minutes on the clock but with rain falling no improvement could be made, meaning Kevin Magnussen secured his maiden pole position in Formula 1, fittingly on the weekend of his 100th Grand Prix start for Haas F1 Team.

"It's incredible. I want to say thank you to Gene Haas, Guenther and the whole team for taking me back on and giving me the opportunity to have a day like this - I'm so chuffed. The team put me out in the pitlane as the first car and that was the gamechanger," said Magnussen.

"It gave me the best piece of track as it started to rain and we got pole. It was the longest minute of my life trying to stay calm as it looked like it was going to be wet but you never know. I'm so happy." added Magnussen.

Despite the spin, Mercedes driver George Russell secured P3 on the grid for Saturday's Sprint.

"There were some mixed emotions for me in that session. It was a pretty unique experience in Q3 - we were one of the last cars on the road, and as the lap progressed, the rain was falling harder and harder - and it was a lot wetter in the final corner than on the lap before," said Russell.

"On the next lap, I lost the car into Turn 4 and actually broke the headrest because my head was bouncing round so much; then I tried to do a 360 and beached the rear tyres in the gravel, which wasn't my best decision," added Russell.

The 2021 and 2022 World Champion, Max Verstappen, will start second for Red Bull on Saturday's qualifying Sprint.

McLaren's Lando Norris who was absent from Media Day due to an illness qualified fourth for the Sprint.

"The car was feeling good, even in the tricky conditions. I was extremely happy to be P1, P5 and P4 through the qualifying runs. I feel like I did a good job all day, even with how I've been feeling - and maybe wasn't driving as perfectly as I should have done, but P4 is still a great position for tomorrow," said Norris.

Ferrari's Carlos Sainz rounded out the top five in Sprint qualifying.

Sainz's teammate, Charles Leclerc, was the only driver who did not post a time in Q3. Ferrari chose to start Leclerc on Intermediates, the only driver to due so. Leclerc could not make a first lap time and the rain spoiled any other chance.

"Today's qualifying was something of a lottery. The whole session was hard work and we got some calls just right and others less so, as was the case with Charles at the start of Q3," said Laurent Mekies, Ferrari Racing Director.

"We split the strategies because we knew rain was imminent. In fact, the drivers on Soft tyres only just had time to put in a lap before the rain became heavy. It's clearly frustrating for Charles and for all of us, because, this season, we have had some great qualifying sessions in equally difficult conditions," added Mekies.

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SPRINT QUALIFYING RESULTS
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Pos	Driver		Team		Time		Gap

1	Magnussen	Haas		1:11.674	134.489 mph
2	Verstappen	Red Bull	1:11.877	0.203
3	Russell		Mercedes	1:12.059	0.385
4	Norris		McLaren		1:12.263	0.589
5	Sainz		Ferrari		1:12.357	0.683
6	Ocon		Alpine		1:12.425	0.751
7	Alonso		Alpine		1:12.504	0.830
8	Hamilton	Mercedes	1:12.611	0.937
9	Perez		Red Bull	1:15.601	3.927
10	Leclerc		Ferrari		No Time	
11	Albon		Williams	1:11.631	
12	Gasly		AlphaTauri	1:11.675	
13	Vettel		Aston Martin	1:11.678	
14	Ricciardo	McLaren		1:12.140	
15	Stroll		Aston Martin	1:12.210	
16	Latifi		Williams	1:15.095	
17	Zhou		Alfa Romeo	1:15.197	
18	Bottas		Alfa Romeo	1:15.486	
19	Tsunoda		AlphaTauri	1:16.264	
20	Schumacher	Haas		1:16.361	

(photo by Haas F1 Racing Media)