Mostly cloudy. Wet job. Air +19C, Rail +27C
Qualifying in Sao Paulo is always interesting, especially during the sprint weekend, when only an hour of training is done. The results on a short lap are tight, the track is slippery, it’s important not to get into traffic – you had to do everything right.
In training, Sergio Perez showed the best time and, like a year ago, qualifying was moved to the evening so that the fans had time to get home from work. However, the stands in Sao Paulo were full during the day.
An hour before qualifying there was fog and a little rain, but it soon stopped, there was little water on the track – and the session started on time.
In the first session all left on the intermediate rubber, although the asphalt was almost dry. Only in the last bend and on the straight behind the cars was a small track visible. The riders worked over a series of laps, the track’s condition gradually improved, as did the results.
Gasly switched to slicks first, followed by the rest. With each lap the track got faster, almost everyone was on the front line, as a result Lando Norris left it behind – 1:13.106, and Latifi, Zhou, Bottas, Tsunoda and Schumacher dropped out of the fight.
In the second session all on slicks. Racers again worked in a series of circles. On the first attempt, Verstappen showed the best time – 1:11.318.
It started to rain a bit again, the riders continued their efforts on slicks. Max added – 1:10.881, Sainz also drove faster, losing nine thousandths. Albon, Gasly, Vettel, Ricciardo and Stroll did not qualify for the final.
In the final Leclerc started the session on intermediate tires, the rest went out on slicks. After crossing the circle, Leclair switched to slicks, without hiding his disappointment at the team’s decision.
Kevin Magnussen was in first place in 1:11,674 when the session was interrupted by red flags – George Russell got stuck in the gravel after crashing into turn four. Haas F1 dreamed that the rain would intensify and record the results.
And so it happened, during the break it started to rain, Perez drove away on intermediate tyres, the rest watched from the pits to see what was happening and assessed the track condition. Sergio didn’t complete the circle and turned into the pits – there was no chance to improve the result.
In the final minutes Hamilton started on intermediate tires, but rather to please the fans.
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Kevin Magnussen won São Paulo qualifying with the best result in his career and in Haas F1 history – and a great birthday present for team owner Gene Haas.
The starting order of the riders in the Sunday race will be determined in the Saturday sprint.
Qualification Results
| pilot | Team | 1 session | 2 session | 3 session | ||||||
| m | Time | Cr | m | Time | Cr | m | Time | Cr | ||
| 1. K. Magnussen | hare | 7 | 1:13,954 | 13 | 7 | 1:11.410 | ten | a | 1:11.674 | 3 |
| 2. Mr Verstappen | Red Bull | 6 | 1:13.625 | elf | a | 1:10,881 | 9 | 2 | 1:11.877 | 3 |
| 3. D. Russell | Mercedes | elf | 1:14,427 | elf | four | 1:11,318 | ten | 3 | 1:12.059 | 3 |
| 4. L. Norris | McLaren | a | 1:13.106 | 13 | 5 | 1:11,377 | 9 | four | 1:12.263 | 3 |
| 5. K. Sainz | Ferrari | fourteen | 1:14.680 | 12 | 2 | 1:10,890 | 9 | 5 | 1:12,357 | 3 |
| 6. E. Okon | alpine | 13 | 1:14,663 | ten | ten | 1:11.587 | 9 | 6 | 1:12,425 | 3 |
| 7. F. Alonso | alpine | 3 | 1:13.542 | 9 | 6 | 1:11,394 | 9 | 7 | 1:12.504 | 3 |
| 8. L. Hamilton | Mercedes | 2 | 1:13.403 | elf | 9 | 1:11.539 | ten | eight | 1:12.611 | four |
| 9. C.Perez | Red Bull | 5 | 1:13.613 | 12 | eight | 1:11.456 | ten | 9 | 1:15.601 | four |
| 10. Sh. Leclerc | Ferrari | 12 | 1:14,486 | 12 | 3 | 1:10.950 | ten | ten | – | 3 |
| 11. A. Albon | Williams | eight | 1:14,324 | 13 | elf | 1:11.631 | eight | |||
| 12. P. Gasly | AlphaTauri | 9 | 1:14,371 | 13 | 12 | 1:11,675 | elf | |||
| 13. S. Vettel | Aston Martin | four | 1:13.597 | 12 | 13 | 1:11,678 | elf | |||
| 14. D. Riccardo | McLaren | fifteen | 1:14,931 | 12 | fourteen | 1:12.140 | 9 | |||
| 15. L. Walk | Aston Martin | ten | 1:14,398 | 13 | fifteen | 1:12.210 | elf | |||
| 16. N. Latifi | Williams | 16 | 1:15,095 | 13 | ||||||
| 17. G. Zhou’ | Alfa Romeo | 17 | 1:5.197 | 12 | ||||||
| 18. V. Bottas | Alfa Romeo | eighteen | 1:15,486 | 13 | ||||||
| 19. Y. Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | 19 | 1:16.264 | 12 | ||||||
| 20. M. Schumacher | hare | twenty | 1:16.361 | 12 | ||||||
Source: F1 News
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