McLaren's Lando Norris took an emphatic pole position at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix on Sunday after Red Bull rival Max Verstappen qualified only 17th in a wet and crash-strewn session at Interlagos.
It was the first time Verstappen, winner of a record 19 of 22 races last year, has won the first two races of a season. He has also won 19 of the last 20.
Max Verstappen clinched his second win of the season as the Australian Grand Prix was halted with three red flags.
Sixty-five thousand fans were on their feet as they watched their home hero Max Verstappen fend off title rival Lewis Hamilton to snatch pole position for the returning Dutch Grand Prix on Saturday.
Max Verstappen led a soggy Monaco Grand Prix from start to finish on Sunday
Max Verstappen took the 50th win of his Formula One career, and record-equalling 15th of the season
Lando Norris lucked in to win a rain-hit and crash-strewn Miami Grand Prix sprint race in a McLaren one-two on Saturday.
Red Bull's Sergio Perez scored his second win of the season in Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc as title favourite Max Verstappen was forced to put his championship champagne on ice after finishing seventh.
Former Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn says 70th Anniversary race winner Max Verstappen reminds him of Formula One great Michael Schumacher. Brawn masterminded Schumacher's seven world championships with Benetton (1994 and 1995) and Ferrari (2000-04) and was team boss at Mercedes when the German made his comeback from 2010-2012.
Verstappen struggled for grip through qualifying but it all came together in his last effort
Australian Piastri, winner of four of the last five races, lapped the Imola circuit with a fastest time of one minute 16.545 seconds on the softest tyre compound with Norris 0.032 slower on a sunny afternoon.
Triple Formula One world champion Verstappen missed out on pole because he set his time of one minute 12.000 seconds after his British rival in a drama-filled qualifying session at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, starting on pole, finished second after defending hard against Verstappen with the two 21-year-olds banging wheels as the Dutchman forced his way past. Verstappen took the flag under investigation.
Lewis Hamilton won a crazy, twice-halted Saudi Arabian Grand Prix for Mercedes on Sunday to go level on points with Red Bull rival Max Verstappen and set up a winner-takes-all title showdown.
In the constructors' standings, Red Bull have 511 points to Ferrari's 376.
The Dutchman stopped Hamilton from winning an eighth title with a gutsy turn in the final lap.
Max Verstappen, who could seal his fourth successive championship on Saturday, will line up fifth on the starting grid
Yuki Tsunoda said he has not been offered any guarantees about how long he will stay at Red Bull
Russell fastest in first Austrian GP practice as Dunne shines
The Dutchman won a maiden Formula One title after a last-lap overtake on Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton in Abu Dhabi.
Max Verstappen won his home Dutch Grand Prix for Red Bull on Sunday and took the Formula One championship lead in front of a roaring, dancing army of fans hailing their hero with orange flags and flares.
Max Verstappen dashed Ferrari's home hopes and won the Italian Grand Prix
Max Verstappen took pole position on Saturday in a wet qualifying for a Canadian Grand Prix
The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix is the penultimate race on this year's Formula One calendar
McLaren's Oscar Piastri seized the first proper pole position of his Formula One career at the Chinese Grand Prix on Saturday with the fastest lap yet around the Shanghai International Circuit.
The victory on a hot afternoon at Le Castellet was Verstappen's seventh of the season and 27th of his career.
Formula One title rivals Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen took each other out of the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday, with Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff slamming the incident as a 'tactical foul'.
Max Verstappen won the Miami Grand Prix from ninth on the starting grid with a masterful display of tyre management on Sunday.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc will line up alongside on the front row after a final qualifying session that ended with Verstappen's Mexican team mate Sergio Perez crashing at the final corner.
Max Verstappen took full advantage of an engine failure for Ferrari's Charles Leclerc to win the Azerbaijan Formula One Grand Prix.
Lando Norris won his home British Grand Prix for the first time and shed tears of joy while McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri finished second
Norris's teammate Oscar Piastri, who spun off and finished ninth in his home race last Sunday after starting on the front row and challenging for the lead, has another good chance to rev up his season.
Red Bull's Formula One championship leader Max Verstappen won the Hungarian Grand Prix from 10th on the starting grid on Sunday as Ferrari rival Charles Leclerc suffered another strategy nightmare.
Team boss Christian Horner said Verstappen's lap of one minute 22.109 seconds was one of his best of the year and the Dutch driver sounded remarkably relaxed given the amount of pressure on him.
Lewis Hamilton will launch his bid to win the drivers' championship at a third F1 team when he makes his much-anticipated debut for Ferrari in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen will have his first shot at clinching the Formula One title in Saudi Arabia in two weeks' time but Red Bull's championship leader could also see his advantage disappear entirely.
IMAGES from the Belgian F1 Grand Prix
The 18-year-old, preparing for only his sixth Grand Prix weekend, lapped with a best time of one minute 26.482 seconds to pip McLaren's championship leader Oscar Piastri by 0.045 seconds.
Formula One world champion Max Verstappen won the inaugural Miami Grand Prix for Red Bull on Sunday, slashing Ferrari rival Charles Leclerc's overall lead from 27 to 19 points after five races.