Leclerc: I never experienced something like that

Both of the Scuderia's cars looked good from FP1 when Carlos Sainz and Leclerc ended the session P1 and P2. But it was the man from Monaco who managed to get the better out of that final, ever-changing final lap that cost the goo guys about half a second compared to their earlier efforts, such was the manner in which grip went AWOL.

Before the deluge all but drowned Interlagos, Leclerc was second on the timing screens with Sainz disappointingly down in P8. Nevertheless, a front-row start for one of the Red cars is cause for optimism.

Leclerc was clearly taken aback by what transpired during the final minutes of Qualifying "In my whole career, I have never experienced anything like that. From Turn 4... there was no rain, but the car was extremely difficult to drive, with no grip.

"I was thinking about just coming in at the end of the lap. But then I finished in P2, so it's a really good surprise. But it's a weird one for everyone on track today but I'm happy to be on the front row."

On his chances for Sunday's 50th Grand Prix in Sao Paulo, Leclerc ventured: "Let's see. I don't know about the race yet. In a sprint weekend, there is always a big question mark on the race pace, but I hope it will be a good one. I hope there will not be too much rain Saturday and Sunday."

As for the earlier Qualy stanzas, Leclerc added: "It was a good qualifying. Q1 was smooth, we only used one set of Softs and put in a solid lap with a car that felt great, after we had made quite a few changes to the setup after FP1. In Q2, we pretty much just put a lap on the board."

It was a different story for Ferrari teammate Sainz, who lamented the timing of his release for this final lap with the clouds thick and dark overhead: "I'm very disappointed as I was feeling good in the car, but we missed a good opportunity.

"The storm arrived very quickly, the wind picked up a lot and it caught me out during the lap. I tried to keep it together but it was extremely tricky and the lap was not good. We were one of the last cars in the queue in the pitlane and every second counts in these situations. It is what it is and now it’s time to focus on tomorrow," added Sainz.

Ferrari F1 boss Fred Vasseur added: "Qualifying was very close up to Q3, when the rain played its part, but again today we saw that we are competitive over a flying lap. The position of our garage in pit lane worked against us in Q3 as we found a whole queue of cars ahead of us and that made life more difficult for our drivers when it came to managing tyre temperature.

"Everyone only got one run in, but Charles did very well to manage his car and secure a front-row start. The fact he did not think he’d done a good lap as he crossed the finish line says a lot about how difficult it was to drive in these conditions. Carlos’ lap was not quite as good and so he will start from eighth.

"Saturday we focus on the Sprint which will be our first opportunity to see how the car behaves in race trim, which is where we have suffered most in recent races." concluded Vasseur.