Sao Paulo Qualifying: Norris P1, Verstappen P12. VCARBs star in crashfest
F1 NewsSunday, 03 November 2024 at 13:18
Lando Norris will start the 2024 São Paulo Grand Prix Round 21 of the 2024 Formula 1 World Championship from pole position after surviving a chaotic, rain-drenched, crash-packed Qualifying session at Interlagos.
Conditions led to five big crashes and saw 2024 F1 world championship leader Max Verstappen knocked out in Q2, which coupled with his grid penalty for today’s race puts Norris in the driving seat to win the Grand Prix later today.
In one of the most challenging qualifying sessions in recent memory, drivers struggled to navigate the wet track, which claimed several big names.
Norris consistently set competitive times, surviving a high-attrition session to claim the top spot, with George Russell and the VCARBs drivers Yuki Tsunoda in P3 and Liam Lawson lining up P5, with the Alpine of Esteban Ocon splitting them in P4.
Williams rookie Colapinto got the ball rolling
Drama struck early when Williams rookie Franco Colapinto lost control and hit the Turn 3 barriers, triggering a red flag in the wet Q1. Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton soon followed, struggling with a car he described as "undriveable" over the radio, and failed to advance past Q1.
Red Bull’s Verstappen topped Q1 with title rival Norris scraping through in P15, but the Red Bull ace encountered difficulties in Q2 as conditions worsened, culminating in a spin by George Russell and a heavy crash for Carlos Sainz in the Ferrari at Turn 2. The World Champ was out in Q2.
Unharmed, Sainz reported afterwards: "It was the first lap on inters and I clearly misjudged the grip. Honestly, I haven’t been very comfortable with the car in the wet this year for some reason. We were on the line and on the limit the whole session.
“Not enjoying that one, but we’ll try and see what we can do for later, but clearly a mistake and not very happy," said Sainz, who when asked if his car would be repaired in time for the race the Spaniard added: “It should be possible, but you never know.”
Both Aston Martins end up in the wall
Later, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll also collided with the barriers, leading to another red flag. When the session resumed, Verstappen and teammate Sergio Perez failed to progress, leaving the Red Bull duo overshadowed by the junior VCARBs team.
An irate Verstappen criticized the red-flag delay following the incidents, remarking: "The car hits the wall, it needs to be a straight red. I don’t understand why it takes 30-40 seconds. Honestly, I let it go. It’s so stupid anyway to talk about. It’s ridiculous.
“We’re already limited with the pits because we’re at the back so when you do the restart time, you have to wait until you go out so we are always at the back. But then… it really blows my mind," added the World Champ.
Q3 saw further incidents, as Fernando Alonso crashed his Aston Martin, halting the session again. With mere seconds left, the final ten cars were released, only for Alex Albon’s Williams to crash heftily into the barriers minutes later, triggering the fifth red flag of the day.
When the spray had settled and the final laps concluded, Norris secured pole position with an outstanding lap, followed by Russell, who kept him honest with a last-ditch effort which means he will join the McLaren on the front row.
Reflecting on his pole-winning effort, Norris said: "There was a lot going on today, but I’m super, super happy. I was struggling a lot at the beginning of Qualifying..."
Norris: Risk reward was not easy today
"A little surprised again to be on pole, but some nice laps. I felt good in the end. It was tougher than it looks on TV at times. You saw how many people were going off and crashing. That risk-reward was not easy today, especially from where I was in Q1," added Norris.
Russell, who was P2 in Qualifying, enjoyed the challenging session, saying: "Really pleased to be lining up P2. I loved it. It reminded me of the karting days... So maybe the guys should have a think about the format moving forward, maybe this is the one."
Tsunoda, elated with his career-best P3 start, noted: "It was very tricky, but I enjoyed it. I thought we had good pace straight away... I had one big moment, but luckily I was away from the barrier. The car felt good. We had the pace in the rain."
Also rising to the occasion that separated the men from the boys, Ocon managed to squeeze a great deal from his Alpine to claim P4, while teammate Pierre Gasly was left stranded down in P15.
Five red flags for five severely damaged F1 cars
As drivers prepare for the race ahead, the chaotic Qualifying session underscored the unpredictable nature of Interlagos in the rain, leaving the stage set for an exciting showdown at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix today.
Charles Leclerc was P6, the Ferrari driver making up for Sainz's crash earlier in the session, but the Monegasque was over a second down on the top time.
The only unwrecked car in the bottom four of the top ten in Q3 was Oscar Piastri who despite showing good pace, did not have it when it mattered. He was only good enough for P8.
Set to start next to him in P7 is Albon, provided Williams can find the parts and time before the race, which was brought forward, to repair both cars.
Ditto for Aston Martin whose Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll were P9 and P10 on the timing screens but both cars require substantial repairs to make it on the grid in the few hours between Qualy and the Grand Prix today.
Horner: Why did it take so long to throw that red flag?
In the aftermath of a highly challenging and tension-packed session in Sao Paulo, team boss Christian Horner had a good gripe: "It's hugely frustrating. A session like that there's obviously a huge amount going on. We don't understand why it took so long for it [the red flag] to come out.
"It was obviously a big accident, one of the most dangerous corners on the circuit, 40 seconds it took to throw the red flag. It's the second day in a row now that we have had very late calls, whether it was the VSC yesterday or the red flag today. The other red flags were all instantaneous.
"Very, very harsh but it is what it is and we've got to try and fight back this afternoon. As soon as you have an accident like that it should be an immediate red flag. If they had red-flagged it immediately Max would have been 10th and he would have had time for another lap.
"We would like to understand the thinking of the race director to understand why it took so long to throw that red flag," demanded Horner.
Sao Paulo Grand Prix Qualifying Q2 Standings:
Qualifying Q2 Standings:
Qualifying Q1 Standings:
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