Max Verstappen and Red Bull secured pole position in a rain-affected qualifying session. Charles Leclerc and the Aston Martins finished behind them.
Max Verstappen secured pole position for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix after facing tough competition from his rivals during qualifying. He managed to beat an extraordinary Interlagos storm to reach the top spot.
Red Bull made sure their driver was on the track early in Q3, while dark clouds formed overhead, anticipating a tough challenge from McLaren’s Lando Norris, who set the fastest time in Q2.
Verstappen took pole position, his 11th of the season, with a time of 1:10.727 in the final session. He overtook George Russell from Mercedes as he left the pits and set the fastest lap on his one flying lap.
For Norris and McLaren, it was a big letdown. The British driver’s impressive performance during the second phase of the race resulted in a disappointing sixth position on the grid for Sunday’s Grand Prix. McLaren started their hot lap later than they should have, which didn’t work out well.
Oscar Piastri, who was in second to last place coming out of the pits, spun onto the grass at the second-to-last corner while it was raining. As a result, he qualified in 10th place.
“The car was amazing,” admitted a disappointed Norris. “Easily probably quick enough to be quickest today and on pole. So pretty gutted for that to end the way we did.”
In the afternoon, Interlagos suddenly became extremely dark due to storm clouds and strong winds.
The rain delayed the race, giving drivers only enough time for one quick lap. Verstappen set the fastest lap, which was not surpassed by any other drivers.
The clouds burst as the drivers returned to the pits, causing the session to be red-flagged with four minutes left. Due to the worsening weather and lightning in the distance, Race Control decided not to restart the pole shootout. Therefore, the Q3 timesheet will remain as it is.
Aston Martin performed well in the qualifying session and secured third and fourth places on the starting grid. This is a morale boost for the team after a series of disappointing races.
Lance Stroll achieved his best starting position in three years by outqualifying Fernando Alonso for the third time this season. He will start in third place as the leading car for the team.
“McLaren will be gutted, they will think they were chance for a pole there, but Aston Martin to be fair were strong all the way through,” said Sky F1’s Martin Brundle.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc will start next to Verstappen on the front row in the upcoming F1 race. However, Mercedes had a disappointing qualifying session with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell starting in fifth and sixth place respectively.
But Russell was later moved down to eighth place because he didn’t follow the new rules about creating gaps when leaving the pit. The race director’s notes stated that he should have stayed more to the left to let oncoming cars, like Pierre Gasly’s Alpine, pass.
Norris moved up to sixth place after Carlos Sainz of Ferrari went off track in Q3 and moved to seventh.
Under-pressure Sergio Perez is in ninth place for Red Bull on row five. He passed Piastri while the McLaren was spinning on the grass and had to slow down for yellow flags.
But, again, the other Red Bull team did not experience such bad luck.
“We didn’t know when it would hit in qualifying, we thought it would hit,” said polesitter Verstappen. “This is of course insane weather.
“Charles and I were just discussing, our laps felt terrible, but I don’t know, I think the wind started to change and started to be very strong and we lost a lot of lap time because of it. It was all quite hectic in the last lap.”
Although the battle for the top spot on the timesheet was intense and uncertain during Friday’s sessions, there were not many surprises during the final qualifying session (Q3).
In potentially good news for Perez, whose position at Red Bull for 2024 doesn’t seem completely safe, Daniel Ricciardo’s chances of achieving another great points-scoring result like last week in Mexico seem difficult. He dropped out in Q1 and finished in 17th place, one position behind his AlphaTauri teammate Yuki Tsunoda.
Sao Paulo GP Qualifying result: Top 10
1) Max Verstappen, Red Bull
2) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
3) Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
4) Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
5) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
6) George Russell, Mercedes*
7) Lando Norris, McLaren
8) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
9) Sergio Perez, Red Bull
10) Oscar Piastri, McLaren
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