Max Verstappen and Red Bull anticipated the climate situations completely to safe pole place forward of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc for Sunday’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix in a rain-curtailed qualifying session that resulted in wild thunderstorms on Friday.
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The newly-crowned three-time world champion clocked a greatest lap in a single minute and 10.727 seconds to outpace Leclerc by 0.294 seconds with Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso taking third and fourth locations to lock out the second row of the grid for Aston Martin.
Lewis Hamilton was fifth for Mercedes forward of team-mate George Russell, leaving a upset Lando Norris seventh for McLaren, after promising rather more.
Carlos Sainz certified eighth within the second Ferrari forward of Sergio Perez within the second Red Bull and Oscar Piastri, who didn’t handle to clock a time in Q3 for McLaren.
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It was Verstappen’s eleventh pole place of the season and lifted him to 31 for his profession, one away from Nico Rosberg and eighth within the all-time record of all-time.
“We didn’t know when it was coming and when it would hit,” mentioned Max Verstappen of the storm.
“Of course, it’s insane climate! My laps felt horrible and Charles and I mentioned this and the hectic wind we had within the last laps.
“For the race, I think it seems very close.”
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Leclerc mentioned: “In my career, I have never experienced anything like this. There was no rain, but also no grip and it was difficult to drive. It was very weird. I am happy to be on P2.”
For Stroll, it was a end result that ended a run of poor qualifying outcomes.
“The car felt good, but it was tricky and my lap was quite bad – the weather changed so much. I missed a lot of apexes, but it was good enough for the top three. A great result for the team.”
Qualifying delayed
The session was delayed quarter-hour to permit for cleansing of the circuit after screws and stones had prompted punctures in free observe, notably for Alonso, beginning his record-extending 375th Grand Prix, and Hamilton.
In sizzling situations, and with clouds threatening, Piastri was first out to set a time earlier than Stroll after which Norris took command.
Verstappen struggled, complaining of his automobile’s dealing with.
“My car is jumping around like a kangaroo, the same problem as in Mexico,” he reported.
On his second Q1 run, Leclerc went high for Ferrari with Piastri going second as rain was forecast and the observe improved, offering more and more extra grip, which in flip pressured the highest groups to take new tyres and proceed lapping to keep away from the reduce.
After a last flurry, the underside 5 have been Yuki Tsunoda and his Alpha Tauri team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, Valtteri Bottas of Alfa Romeo, Logan Sargeant of Williams and Zhou Guanyu within the second Alfa Romeo.
Russell was quickest forward of Verstappen and Leclerc, with solely half a second separating third from 18th in a highly-competitive session throughout which tyre utilization was important for efficiency and technique planning for Sunday’s race.
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In falling temperatures, McLaren’s Norris and Piastri impressed earlier than Max Verstappen discovered his contact to clock 1:10.162, a three-tenths enchancment on his Q1 lap and adequate to withstand each Ferraris and each Mercedes’ efforts.
With 4 minutes remaining, it was fiercely shut and solely three-tenths separated all 15 runners earlier than Norris went high in 1:10.021, confirming McLaren as a significant contender for the Grand Prix.
At the flag, it was Nico Hulkenberg of Haas, the Alpines of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly, final yr’s pole-sitter Kevin Magnussen within the second Haas and Williams’ Alex Albon who missed out on the top-10 shootout.
Q3 started in near-darkness underneath leaden clouds, with Alonso main the way in which earlier than Verstappen clocked 1:10.727, Leclerc going second forward of Stroll and his Aston Martin team-mate earlier than the climate turned wild.
A blast of wind upset Piastri’s lap, Leclerc complained of “super weird conditions” and Alonso declared “it’s night” earlier than the session was red-flagged.
By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse
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