Kevin Magnussen took a surprise pole position at the Brazilian Grand Prix, his first in 140 attempts.

The Dane was the beneficiary of George Russell's mistake with just over eight minutes of Q3 remaining. The Englishman skidded on the white line approaching Turn 4 and went off into the gravel; the action was suspended under a red flag and rain fell.

When the session resumed, it was too wet for anyone to improve on the times they had previously set.

Haas driver Magnussen, 30, smiled in his helmet as he realised his lap set in the dry stood as the day's best, his eyes fizzing with delight. It was an astonishing turnaround for him personally, having been dropped by Haas for last season and only winning a reprieve when Nikita Mazepin was sacked on account of his Russian citizenship when his country invaded Ukraine.

Max Verstappen, the world champion, was second best, and Russell, ironically, third. Lewis Hamilton was eighth.

Cue joyous scenes in the Haas garage.

'I have never felt like this before in my life,' said the pole man, who starts not Sunday's race at the front but Saturday's 24-lap sprint.

'I don't know what to say. I was out there at exactly the right time.' Haas, eighth of the 10 teams in the current standings, have never known a day like it. Magnussen's best qualifying position prior to this was fifth.

As Russell's stricken Mercedes was towed away from danger and the rain began to fall, Magnussen could not believe his luck.

'You are f****** kidding me,' he said when informed he headed the order. 'I have never felt like this in my life. Don't celebrate yet.'

But as the clock ticked down and the rain continued to fall, the session fizzled out with Magnussen and his Haas mechanics allowed to go wild as the Dane's surprise pole was confirmed.

'I don't know what to say,' an emotional Magnussen said, moments after stepping out of his car.

'The team put me out on track at the right moment. We were the first out of the pits. I did a decent lap and we are on pole. It is incredible.

'Thank you to the whole team for this opportunity. I got back after a year out and it has been an amazing journey. I will be on maximum attack tomorrow.'

Lando Norris, who missed his media duties on Thursday, with suspected food poisoning, was fourth quickest for McLaren as dusk closed in over Sao Paulo's undulating track.

Heading into the penultimate round of the 22-race campaign in Interlagos, Hamilton is facing up to the prospect that he will end the season without a single win for the first time in his career. 

The Briton, who won so brilliantly in Brazil last year, hoped the short venue in Sao Paulo would offer him a greater chance of victory than at next weekend's final race in Abu Dhabi. However, he will line up down the order on Saturday.

Charles Leclerc's season has been blighted by a catalogue of Ferrari errors and there was further woe for the Monegasque on Friday when he was the only man sent out in Q3 on wet rubber, while the asphalt was still dry.

Leclerc did not post a time and was forced to pit for slick tyres. But Russell's accident and the sprinkling of rain left Leclerc in no man's land.

'Beautiful, f****** beautiful,' he fumed over the radio.

Russell beached his Mercedes in the early moments of Q3 which aided Magnussen's drive to glory.

The nine-minute delay, and arrival of additional rain, meant no other driver could improve on their time.

Russell lines up in third ahead of McLaren's Lando Norris, with Lewis Hamilton only eighth.

Relive Sportsmail's live blog from qualifying at the Brazilian Grand Prix, written by Ben Willcocks.