Lando Norris took an important championship moment with pole position at Interlagos as title rival Max Verstappen got caught out by a red flag.
George Russell will start second for this afternoon’s brought-forward race for Mercedes, with Yuki Tsunoda third for RB as Verstappen’s engine-change grid penalty means he will start P17 – behind Lewis Hamilton, who was eliminated in Q1.
In Q3, Norris led with a time of one minute, 25.631 seconds after the first runs on the intermediate tyres, with the cars fuelled to run long as the teams expected the fluctuating rain to intensify again.
Lando improved this to one minute, 24.158 seconds to head Alex Albon and Oscar Piastri, before Fernando Alonso became the second Aston Martin driver of the session to crash out – the double champion losing his car through the plunging Turn 11 left at the end of the middle sector.
The drivers lined up to try again with seven minutes left on the clock and their first efforts back on track did not make any improvements as they built tyre temperature – Russell, Piastri and Tsunoda all having moments, the latter two spinning.
But before any purple sectors could be registered, Albon crashed hard at Turn 1 – appearing to brake on the wet white line while also wondering if he had a brake problem. A spin into the barriers wrecked the rear of his Williams and causing a fifth red flag.
Afterwards, the teams took two different approaches, with the McLarens fuelled to do two laps and improving the pole time with both – first to one minute, 24.092 seconds and then finally to confirm pole with one minute, 23.405 seconds.
Piastri did not improve on his first go and then locked up at Turn 1 and went off on his final lap, which meant the drivers that were kept in the garage for extra time with their inters in the tyre blankets and time for just one run, were able to gain.
First Liam Lawson got up to second before he was shuffled down to fifth by Tsunoda and Norris, while Esteban Ocon – a two-lap runner for the final efforts – sneak into fourth for Alpine.
Charles Leclerc ended up sixth as the lead Ferrari having got to Turn 1 with a yellow flag activated for Piastri’s off on his final lap, with Albon nudged down to seventh but still ahead of Piastri.
The crashed Astons of Alonso and Lance Stroll ended up with the ninth and tenth positions – the latter not taking part in Q3 due to his early incident in Q2.
That was a momentous mini-session for the title contenders, as Norris sat in P11 and on the verge of a shock exit when Carlos Sainz crashing at Turn 1 halting his progress – Norris having also struggled on the full wets used in Q1, before Piastri led the switch to inters in the middle segment.
But Norris was able to gain on his first lap out of the pits on the inters when Q2 resumed and then go even quicker, while Verstappen did not improve and along with his teammate, Sergio Perez, was shuffled down into the drop zone.
Both Red Bull drivers were then caught on the wrong side of a second red flag called with less than a minute less – caused by Stroll crashing at Turn 3.
That also eliminated Valtteri Bottas in P11 – the Sauber driver’s best qualifying result since he was P10 in China – the already out Sainz and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly.
Verstappen led Q1, where Franco Colapinto crashed halfway through, which meant a tricky end to the session for the rest as the rain increased and the times only really began to improve right at the end.
Norris squeaked through in P15, while Lawson’s late improvement knocked out Hamilton, who was furious with “this damn car”.
Oliver Bearman and Nico Hulkenberg also failed to progress in a session when Bottas had made an unsuccessful switch to inters before the red flag. Valtteri’s teammate Zhou Guanyu had the chance to knock out Norris but the Sauber driver’s final lap was only good enough for last.
So a mixed up grid thanks to the wet weather with five red flags. The championship battle gets interesting with Lando Norris at the top with his rival Max Verstappen at the back. The postponed qualifying has certainly made this exciting and the race is next.
Sao Paulo Grand Prix, qualifying results:
1 Lando Norris McLaren 1:23.405
2 George Russell Mercedes 1:23.578
3 Yuki Tsunoda RB 1:24.111
4 Esteban Ocon Alpine 1:24.475
5 Liam Lawson RB 1:24.484
6 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:24.525
7 Alexander Albon Williams 1:24.657
8 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:24.686
9 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:28.998
10 Lance Stroll Aston Martin No time
11 Valtteri Bottas Sauber 1:26.334
12 Sergio Perez Red Bull 1:28.158
13 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:29.406
14 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:29.614
15 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1.31.150
16 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:31.229
17 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:27.771*
18 Franco Colapinto Williams 1:31.270
19 Nico Hulkenberg Haas 1:31.623
20 Zhou Guanyu Sauber 1:32.263
*Five-place grid penalty for power unit change
Lando Norris has taken pole position during a hugely eventful qualifying session ahead of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, which featured five red flags, several shock eliminations – including Max Verstappen exiting in Q2 – and changing weather conditions.
Following the postponement of the session from Saturday, there were numerous dramas during Sunday morning’s qualifying right until the final Q3 segment, in which two heavy crashes for Fernando Alonso and Alex Albon disrupted running. This left just over three minutes on the clock – and seven cars in the running – for the final top 10 shootout.
Despite continued tricky conditions, Norris surged through to claim pole position with a lap of 1m 23.405s, putting him 0.173s clear of Mercedes’ George Russell in second. Yuki Tsunoda, meanwhile, enjoyed his best-ever qualifying to take third for RB, the Japanese driver set to line up alongside Alpine’s Esteban Ocon in fourth.
RB’s day was made even better by Liam Lawson slotting into P5, ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in P6. Albon held onto P7 despite his earlier crash, while Oscar Piastri had to settle for P8 after having a moment in the McLaren.
Alonso and Aston Martin team mate Lance Stroll rounded out the top 10, with Alonso having been unable to continue following his incident while Stroll did not participate in Q3 after suffering a crash of his own at the end of Q2.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/norris-beats-russell-and-tsunoda-to-pole-position-in-sao-paulo-amid-five-red.2PERamLqTYyD4M7zI55X0n
Max Verstappen slammed the delay in bringing out the red flag for Lance Stroll’s crash following his own shock Q2 exit at the F1 Brazilian Grand Prix.
The Red Bull driver’s world championship hopes suffered a major blow on Sunday morning after he was eliminated in Q2 at Interlagos. It means he will start 17th.
He was already heading into the Sao Paulo weekend knowing he had a five-place grid penalty, as his battle with title rival Lando Norris intensified.
But with Sunday morning’s wet qualifying conditions looking like they could have offered him an opportunity to pull off a surprise against Norris, it all went wrong in the closing stages of the second qualifying segment.
Verstappen had failed to improve as the track conditions steadily got better through the final minutes and, after slipping down to 12th, he was caught out by a crash involving Lance Stroll as he attempted a final effort to get through.
With the yellow flags out as Verstappen passed the stricken Aston Martin at Turn 3, he had to back off – and he knew there would be no other attempt to make it through after the red flag was eventually brought out.
Aware of the implications of the stoppage, Verstappen gesticulated in the cockpit and expressed his frustration over the team radio as he knew that the session would not be restarted.
Speaking to Sky after the session, a clearly agitated Verstappen said he did not understand why there had been a delay in stopping the session.
“If a guy goes straight into the wall, it is a straight red,” he said. “I don’t understand why you need to take 30, 40 seconds for a red flag to come out…”
When suggested it had been to allow some drivers to finish their laps, he replied: “I don’t care in all honesty, it is so stupid to talk about. It’s ridiculous.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/verstappen-hits-out-at-red-flag-delay-after-shock-brazil-f1-gp-q2-exit/10670107/
Alex Albon will not start the Brazilian Grand Prix after a heavy crash during an accident-filled qualifying session.
With heavy rain leading to Saturday’s qualifying being rescheduled for 0730 local time on Sunday morning, the conditions had only slightly improved by the time cars took to the track.
Albon’s Williams team-mate Franco Colapinto was the first to bring out one of four red flags during qualifying as tricky conditions led to cars being strewn across the Interlagos track.
Mexico Grand Prix winner Carlos Sainz then brought out another red flag in Q2, before Lance Stroll’s crash brought a premature end to the session, which resulted in the championship leader Max Verstappen being eliminated.
The second Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso then shunted before Albon had the biggest shunt of all, crashing off at turn one at a time when he was sitting a provisional second on the grid.
“I think we had an issue; I know we had an issue, we just need to go through it,” Albon said of the incident that saw him hit the wall.
“Immediately when I hit the brake pedal there was a beep in my ear which normally means there’s a failure, rear locking and a big crash. So that’s us out for the race unfortunately… so yeah.”
Asked to confirm if he meant his car would not be rebuilt in time for the grand prix, which was brought forward to start at 1530 local time, he replied: “No, it won’t be fixed.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/albon-confirms-qualifying-crash-rules-him-out-of-brazilian-grand-prix/10670179/
Max Verstappen was left frustrated after exiting a dramatic wet qualifying session for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix in Q2. With a grid penalty still to come his way for the race itself, it’s a result that could have huge implications in the championship battle.
The Red Bull man was hampered after Lance Stroll’s crash brought out the red flags late on in the second segment of qualifying, leaving him down in P12 and unable to set a faster lap time, while the session couldn’t be resumed with so little time left on the clock.
Now facing a provisional P17 starting spot for the Grand Prix, thanks to his five-place penalty for taking on a new internal combustion engine, his lowly position could have a significant impact on his hopes of retaining the drivers’ title – as fellow title challenger Lando Norris went on to take a stunning pole in the wet conditions at Interlagos.
While Verstappen can have hopes of starting a spot or two higher up the grid – thanks to the likes of Stroll, Fernando Alonso, Franco Colapinto, Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz facing hefty repair jobs before the start of the race after their respective red flag-inducing crashes – the Dutchman was unhappy when speaking in the media pen afterwards.
“I find it unbelievable,” he said. “The car [Stroll] goes into the wall, broken, it’s clearly destroyed but they wait 30-40 seconds so everyone else can just complete their lap times.
“Of course the ones behind cannot even do a lap. I can’t get my head around it – how that is possible to just let it go for 30 seconds, 40 seconds? That, of course, ruins qualifying.
“We’re already limited with the pits because we’re at the back so when you do the restart time, you have to wait until you go out so we are always at the back. But then… it really blows my mind.”
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/red-bull-drivers-left-frustrated-after-dramatic-q2-exit-in-sao-paulo-as-they.7DNX3DUU11zFmM8LkKE9dl