(Motorsports news) Verstappen stayed at the front of the pack, setting the only time in Q3 under 1m11s while the overall pace slowed. High winds made track conditions more difficult, and drivers had to complete their laps quickly – but none could overtake Verstappen’s best performance before the cloud arrived – Oscar Piastri appeared to be on route to get close, but instead skidded off the road at Turn 12.
The Sao Paulo cityscape got increasingly dense as dark clouds gathered over the Interlagos track, creating an early queue for laps as rain appeared to be on the way in the session’s opening phase. When it emerged, the course went dark, prompting the red flag to be raised when the rain began to fall after the first laps were completed.
The session was not restarted, and Verstappen’s pole position was confirmed, as Charles Leclerc earned a front-row start in Brazil on Sunday. Lance Stroll finished third on Sunday’s grid, as Aston Martin timed its runs effectively; Fernando Alonso finished fourth, ahead of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell’s Mercedes. McLaren was seventh with Q2-topper Lando Norris, while Carlos Sainz, Sergio Perez, and Piastri rounded out the top ten.
Stroll’s 10th-best time in Q2 held off a late charge from the Haas and Alpine cars, allowing the Aston Martin driver to qualify for the first time since the Belgian Grand Prix in July. Stroll was on the verge of elimination as Alonso vaulted into the top four from the drop zone, but he had two tenths on the drivers in the elimination zone. After falling to fifth place as Alonso improved, Esteban Ocon attempted to catch Stroll but was unable to find enough time; instead, he was passed by Nico Hulkenberg, who moved up to 11th.
Pierre Gasly, Ocon’s Alpine teammate, did not improve either but moved up to 13th ahead of Kevin Magnussen. Alex Albon’s best lap was lost due to track constraints, however, this had no bearing on his final ranking. Both Alpines are being investigated for obstructing pit exit by moving slowly in front of the Red Bulls and Yuki Tsunoda.
A lengthy cleaning of the circuit caused a 15-minute delay in Q1 proceedings after Pirelli had reported difficulties with stones and screws on the track surface during FP1. The danger of rain arriving in the middle of the 18-minute Q1 session caused a frenzy of second runs to cover it up, despite the fact that the rain had not yet arrived.
Over the final five minutes, Albon broke into the top four after moving out of the drop zone, triggering a third round of laps to advance into Q2. Tsunoda sat on the verge of 15th place in the final minute, with the timing board resembling a slot machine, as he attempted to improve and pull himself out of danger, but he couldn’t outperform his previous lap.
This offered Ocon the opportunity to move out of the bottom five and relegate Tsunoda, which he did with a time good enough for 14th. Tsunoda was 0.006s ahead of Daniel Ricciardo, who was unable to replicate his Mexico qualifying heroics, while Valtteri Bottas also failed to qualify for Q1.
Logan Sargeant attempted to join Albon in Q2 and briefly climbed up to 15th before being thrown back into the bottom five by a last-gasp flurry of laptime improvements. The American fell to 19th as Zhou Guanyu qualified last, 0.2s slower than Sargeant’s best lap.
Also read: Alonso warns of “consequences” if erroneous F1 rumors are spread
