We are St. Paul, in Brazil, ready for Friday qualifying in this sprint weekend, the last of 2023. The Ferrari tries to continue the good form started in free tests with a first and a second place, while the Red Bull he wants to return to dominating after a morning spent at the back of the grid. The session starts 15 minutes late for some track work and there is a 60% chance of rain.
Q1: Russell ahead of Leclerc
In a Q1 characterized bypreventing George Russell on Pierre Gasly (which will be investigated after the session), the same Mercedes driver snatches first position from Charles Leclerc in the final stages. The two Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez had to use two new sets of soft tires to guarantee passage to the round: a rather anomalous situation this season.
Eliminated the two AlphaTauri pilots tsunoda e Ricciardo, Bottas, Sergeant and the other Alfa Romeo of Zhou. As always this year, the entire grid is enclosed in less than a second: 0.935s. Russell is not the only driver to have created chaos in the pitlane: several drivers complain about the chaos at the pit exit.
Q2: Norris beats Red Bulls
The second part of qualifying begins with very light rain: the weather forecast predicts more heavy rain in Q3. For now, the slick tires are still great. The two Ferrari and George Russell they use a train of used tires for their first attempt, but this sinks them into the elimination zone.
Once the new tires were fitted, however, they all entered the top 10. However, they remained excluding Hulkenberg, Ocon, Gasly, Magnussen (poleman here last season) and Albon, while Norris manages to beat the two Red Bulls of Verstappen and Perez and finish in the lead. Both Aston Martins return to Q3: Alonso fourth and Stroll tenth. The top five teams in the standings will compete for pole with both drivers: Red Bull, Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren and Aston Martin.
Brazilian GP qualifying: pole for Verstappen ahead of Leclerc and Stroll
All it takes is one try before the rain. Max Verstappen is in pole position! On the front row with him for Sunday's Grand Prix is Charles Leclerc. Sensational third place for Lance Stroll, followed by his partner Fernando Alonso. The two Mercedes follow Hamilton, Russell, then Norris, Sainz, Perez e Piastres.
The Mexican driver is unlucky: Piastri spins on the last corner and Perez, behind him, has to lift his foot and almost abort a lap that would have earned him the top 3. The race is scheduled for 18pm, but tomorrow the sprint shootout and the sprint!
