Cloudy. Dry. Air +30…28С, highway +40…35С
In 2023, the stage in Sao Paulo was held in a format with a Saturday sprint – this was the sixth and final sprint. As always, there was only one training session before qualifying – and the protocol in it was led by Carlos Sainz, tenth ahead of teammate Charles Leclerc, who showed the second time. But Red Bull Racing and Mercedes did not work on the speed and did not even put on soft tires in the morning, as they were confident they would not have any problems during the weekend.
Pirelli brought three ‘medium’ trains to the podium – C2, C3 and C4 in Hard, Medium and Soft roles.
Qualifying was postponed by 15 minutes due to the consequences of an accident during practice for the local Porsche Cup. The forecast rains started in Sao Paulo, but it was dry at the start of the session in Interlagos.
In the first session Due to the high risk of an approaching thunderstorm, the riders rushed to the track and opted for Soft. Traffic was in the way of many. On the first attempt, Norris set the best time and Verstappen finished third, complaining about the car’s roll.
Returning to the pits, Gasly almost collided with Russell’s almost stationary car – the stewards will review this incident after the session.
The track condition improved with each lap. On the second attempt Russell was the fastest. The results of twenty riders fit into nine-tenths. Tsunoda, Ricciardo, Bottas, Sargent and Zhou dropped out of further competition.
In the second session everyone went back to Soft. Many opted for walk-in tires on the first attempt and left new ones for the second. Verstappen led the protocol with a lap of 1:10.162.
On the second attempt the results became even tighter: the top ten fit within 35 hundredths. Norris showed the best time and completed a lap in 1:10.021. Hulkenberg, Ocon, Gasly, Magnussen and Albon did not qualify for the final.
In the final There was such a dark cloud approaching the track that there was no doubt as to its intentions, but the session started on a dry track. Everyone went back to Soft.
Piastri went onto the grass in Turn 12 and returned to the pits in no time.
There was no rain, but lightning flashed, thunder roared and the race management stopped the session with red flags and decided not to continue the session – it got dark and after a few minutes it started to rain.
By this time, Verstappen had managed to set the best time, completing a lap in 1:10.727.
Max Verstappen won qualifying in Sao Paulo and took his 11th pole position of the season and 31st of his career. Together with him, Charles Leclerc will start from the front row during Sunday’s race, Stroll and Alonso will start the race from the second row and Hamilton and Russell will start the race from the third row.
On Saturday we have another qualification – for the sprint, and the sprint itself.
Qualifying results
| Pilot | Team | 1 session | Session 2 | Session 3 | ||||||
| M | Time | Kr | M | Time | Kr | M | Time | Kr | ||
| 1. M. Verstappen | Red Bull | 2 | 1:10,436 | 9 | 2 | 1:10,162 | 6 | 1 | 1:10,727 | 3 |
| 2. S. Leclerc | Ferrari | 3 | 1:10,472 | 6 | 7 | 1:10,303 | 9 | 2 | 1:11.021 | 3 |
| 3. L. Walk | Aston Martin | 6 | 1:10,551 | 7 | 10 | 1:10.375 | 6 | 3 | 1:11,344 | 3 |
| 4. F. Alonso | Aston Martin | 7 | 1:10,557 | 9 | 4 | 1:10,237 | 6 | 4 | 1:11,387 | 3 |
| 5. L. Hamilton | Mercedes | 9 | 1:10,604 | 9 | 6 | 1:10,266 | 9 | 5 | 1:11,469 | 3 |
| 6. D. Russell | Mercedes | 1 | 1:10,340 | 9 | 8 | 1:10,316 | 9 | 6 | 1:11,590 | 3 |
| 7. L.Norris | McLaren | eleven | 1:10,623 | 4 | 1 | 1:10.021 | 6 | 7 | 1:11,987 | 3 |
| 8. K.Sainz | Ferrari | 12 | 1:10,624 | 9 | 5 | 1:10,254 | 8 | 8 | 1:11,989 | 3 |
| 9. C. Perez | Red Bull | 13 | 1:10,668 | 8 | 3 | 1:10,219 | 6 | 9 | 1:12,321 | 3 |
| 10. O. Piastri | McLaren | 5 | 1:10,519 | 6 | 9 | 1:10,330 | 7 | 10 | – | 2 |
| 11. N. Hulkenberg | Hare | 4 | 1:10,475 | 9 | eleven | 1:10,547 | 6 | |||
| 12. E. Okon | Alps | 14 | 1:10,763 | 9 | 12 | 1:10,562 | 6 | |||
| 13. P. Gasly | Alps | 15 | 1:10,793 | 8 | 13 | 1:10,567 | 6 | |||
| 14. K.Magnussen | Hare | 8 | 1:10,602 | 9 | 14 | 1:10,723 | 6 | |||
| 15. A. Elbon | Williams | 10 | 1:10,621 | 9 | 15 | 1:10,840 | 6 | |||
| 16. Yu.Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | 16 | 1:10,837 | 9 | ||||||
| 17. D. Ricciardo | AlphaTauri | 17 | 1:10,843 | 6 | ||||||
| 18. V. Bottas | Alfa Romeo | 18 | 1:10.955 | 9 | ||||||
| 19. L. Sargent | Williams | 19 | 1:11.035 | 9 | ||||||
| 20.G.Zhou | Alfa Romeo | 20 | 1:11,275 | 9 | ||||||
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
