Magnussen earns first F1 pole in rain-effected quali but Russell wins Saturday Sprint race at Interlagos
Formula 1’s final Sprint Qualifying of the season went down on Saturday at a wet Interlagos circuit in Sao Paulo. While Haas’s Kevin Magnussen had the thrill of winning his first F1 pole during Friday qualifying thanks in no small part to a well-timed Red Flag and subsequent rainy conditions, that only earned the veteran Dane the honor of starting first in the Sprint race, which will actually set the grid for Sunday’s Sao Paulo GP. While it was a more lively than usual affair, probably due to all the major 2022 prizes having already been scooped up by team Red Bull and their peerless ace, Max Verstappen, the fairly gimmicky 24-lap Sprint format began in dry conditions that saw Magnussen quickly overwhelmed by faster cars. Mercedes’ George Russell, driving aggressively but smartly, eventually earned the win ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz in P2 and Verstappen in P3. In truth, the Haas driver benefitted greatly on Friday from Russell beaching his Silver Arrow midway through Q3, which brought out a Red Flag just before the skies opened over Interlagos. So, no other drivers could match Magnussen’s fast lap that he had set in drier conditions. But on Saturday the conditions were not particularly wet from the start despite cloudy skies, allowing the field to start on slick tires rather than Intermediates and the stronger cars to perform up to their true capabilities. As Magnussen faded to a P8 finish, Russell surged forward to dice with Verstappen, eventually passing the Dutchman for the race lead, the Red Bull having picked p some front wing damage after a clash with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz early on. That slowed the Red Bull enough to where both Sainz and the second Merc of Lewis Hamilton were also able to pass Vertsppen in the waning laps of the Sprint, though Sainz will be relegated 5-grid spots come race day due to engine component changes, making a front row lockout come race time.
Saturday Sprint Race Top 10:
POS | DRIVER | TIME/RETIRED | PTS |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 30:11.307 | 8 | |
2 | +3.995s | 7 | |
3 | +4.492s | 6 | |
4 | +10.494s | 5 | |
5 | +11.855s | 4 | |
6 | +13.133s | 3 | |
7 | +25.624s | 2 | |
8 | +28.768s | 1 | |
9 | +30.218s | 0 | |
10 | +34.170s | 0 |
Friday Qualifying results:
POS | DRIVER | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1:13.954 | 1:11.410 | 1:11.674 | |
2 | 1:13.625 | 1:10.881 | 1:11.877 | |
3 | 1:14.427 | 1:11.318 | 1:12.059 | |
4 | 1:13.106 | 1:11.377 | 1:12.263 | |
5 | 1:14.680 | 1:10.890 | 1:12.357 | |
6 | 1:14.663 | 1:11.587 | 1:12.425 | |
7 | 1:13.542 | 1:11.394 | 1:12.504 | |
8 | 1:13.403 | 1:11.539 | 1:12.611 | |
9 | 1:13.613 | 1:11.456 | 1:15.601 | |
10 | 1:14.486 | 1:10.950 | DNF |
Complete results and final starting grid available via Formula1.com.
Sunday’s Sao Paulo GP airs live on ABC beginning at 1PM Eastern here in the States. Hope to see you then to find out if Mercedes resurgence is for real, if Ferrari can overcome their tentative and clumsy strategy calls to grab a victory or if Verstappen has been sandbagging en route to padding his record win total.