Qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix was abruptly ended by a sudden Sao Paulo storm, leaving teams even more in the dark than usual over the true balance of power at Interlagos
Max Verstappen’s reaction after securing pole position hinted at the tantalizing possibility of a closely contested Brazilian Grand Prix.
However, the Dutchman’s qualifying session was anything but easy. Everyone’s Q3 came to an abrupt end when a storm suddenly swept across the Sao Paulo circuit, engulfing it in darkness while powerful winds and torrential rain caused mayhem.
Verstappen was leading the timesheets when it abruptly ended the session. Before the winds picked up, the Dutchman had completed a strong lap, so Red Bull made a wise choice. so it was an 11th pole position of the year for Verstappen. Charles Leclerc is set to line up alongside him on Sunday, while Aston Martin also benefitted from going out on track early, Lance Stroll ending his qualifying hoodoo to go third quickest.
After qualifying on pole, Verstappen will be the clear favorite on Sunday as Red Bull has only lost one race this year. But when asked about his prospects following the session, he called for a close fight.
“It appears to be extremely close, as evidenced by qualifying,” he remarked. “I anticipate the same thing in this race as well. The management is everything because there is always quite a bit of deg coming from the tyres. Last year, we didn’t manage it properly, but I believe we will do better this year.
Verstappen said he and his F1 rivals were as surprised as the rest of us by how quickly the weather turned towards the end of qualifying. “We didn’t know if it would hit but then it did hit,” he added.
“This is insane weather. Charles and I were just discussing our laps, they felt terrible. I think the wind started to change and started to be very strong and we lost a lot of lap time because of it. But it was quite hectic in the last lap.”
For Leclerc, it was an unprecedented turn of events. “I’ve never experienced that in my career,” said the wide-eyed Monegasque as he watched the rain fall and the lightning flash. “The wind change was crazy
From sector two on, there was just completely no grip, which made it very confusing because you couldn’t tell where the balance would be in the corner you would eventually reach. I was like, “Okay, this is not good enough,” because it hurt so much. I’m definitely P10. Fortunately, I wasn’t, and coming in second is good.