Verstappen takes pole for Sao Paulo GP in rain-shortened qualifying; Leclerc P2 for Ferrari, Stroll a surprise P2 for Aston, as McLaren get caught out
With qualifying for Sunday’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix taking place on Friday to accommodate the last Sprint Saturday of the season, some of the most ominous clouds imaginable rolled into Autódromo José Carlos Pace between Q2 & Q3. Sure enough, midway through that final quali session, it started chucking down rain onto the Interlagos circuit, bringing a premature end to the day’s efforts and scrambling the top ten for Sunday’s race. Of course, Max Verstappen and the Red Bull brain trust played things perfectly, getting their star pilot out as soon as the pit lane opens up for Q3. The Dutchman promptly set the fastest banker lap of what would be then only hot laps completed. Despite actually being a touch slower than his best effort in Q2, it was still good enough for pole when the session was Red Flagged and then quickly terminated. Charles Leclerc of Ferrari also did well to get out there and set a time good enough for P2 and a start on the grid right beside Verstappen. Aston Martin had a big rebound from their recent lackluster form and surprisingly it was the beleaguered Lance Stroll outpacing his more heralded teammate Fernando Alonso, P3 to P4 respectively. The Mercedes duo slotted in behind the Astons, with Lewis Hamilton wringing the neck of his unruly Silver Arrow to take the fifth fastest time of the session and George Russell* backstopping him in P7 [*Russell was later penalized two grid spots for “driving unnecessarily slowly and failing to follow Race Director’s instructions”.]
Losing out when the rains brought things to a premature end were team McLaren, which failed to put things together early in the going and were punished for it after showing what looked to be pole-challenging pace in Q1 and Q2. Lando Norris could manage no better than the seventh fastest time on the board, while Oscar Piastri had a spin on his only flying lap when the track just started to get wet and did not record a time. The impressive Australian rookie will be relegated to starting from tenth come race day, though look for both McLarens to aggressively fight their way towards the front with what should still be superior race pace to Mercedes and Aston Martin, and perhaps Ferrari, as well. Speaking of which, the second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz was a bit behind the eight ball all day long and could muster no better than a P8 time when all was said and done. Red Bull’s struggling Sergio Perez was similarly off his teammate’s pace and qualified back in P9. Perez will have his work cut out for him in the Grand Prix and must avoid being over-aggressive, as he was when he crashed out on Lap 1 in Mexico City last week. After fading so badly this year, Perez is frankly fighting to retain his Red Bull ride for 2024 and badly needs some sort of positive result from Sunday’s race.
Top 10 qualifiers for the Sao Paulo GP:
| POS | DRIVER | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1:10.436 | 1:10.162 | 1:10.727 | |
| 2 | 1:10.472 | 1:10.303 | 1:11.021 | |
| 3 | 1:10.551 | 1:10.375 | 1:11.344 | |
| 4 | 1:10.557 | 1:10.237 | 1:11.387 | |
| 5 | 1:10.604 | 1:10.266 | 1:11.469 | |
| 6 | 1:10.340 | 1:10.316 | 1:11.590 | |
| 7 | 1:10.623 | 1:10.021 | 1:11.987 | |
| 8 | 1:10.624 | 1:10.254 | 1:11.989 | |
| 9 | 1:10.668 | 1:10.219 | 1:12.321 | |
| 10 | 1:10.519 | 1:10.330 | DNF |
Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.
Tomorrow’s race airs live on ESPN2 beginning at Noon Eastern here in the States. Will more stormy weather play havoc with the Grand Prix or will it be simply smooth sailing for Verstappen as the flying Dutchman looks to extend his record win tally? Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!