Chaos rains down on Red Flag-riddled Qualifying in Brazil

Chaos is the only acceptable word to describe Qualifying at the São Paulo Grand Prix, with the drama of the soaked session escalated by five Red Flag disruptions and multiple shock eliminations before Lando Norris claimed Pole in Brazil.

Qualifying 1:

One of only six qualifying sessions in the history of Formula 1 to take place on a Sunday, the rescheduled shootout got off to a drenched start, with weather conditions less severe than yesterday, however, still posing a major challenge for the drivers and teams. 

Anticipating increased rainfall by the end of Q1, it was no surprise to see almost every single driver queueing in the pitlane and wanting to make the most of the ‘best’ conditions of the hour.

At the back of the queue, Oscar Piastri completed the train of drenched drivers.

The Australian waded through the standing water, struggling to find his usual form amid yellow and red flags.

Setting an initial time of 1:33.249s, Piastri drifted tantalisingly close to the bottom five, and with improvements not a guarantee, he was thankful to move up two places on the following lap.

Returning after the Red Flag, Piastri improved through the first sector, twitched through the second sector and ended the final sector with enough pace to earn ninth place, seeing him moving through to Q2.

Liam Lawson opened his Sunday qualifying campaign with a lock-up at Turn 12, luckily taking to the escape road as opposed to the slippery and soft grass area at the corner.

As a result, he was in the elimination zone for an additional period, also failing to jump higher on his second wet tyre push lap.

When the Red Flag paused the session, however, the Kiwi nervously sat in P14.

His first post-restart lap was deleted, reinstating his place deep within the bottom five, however, that only served as added motivation for Lawson whose improvements across the middle and final sector rewarded him with time quick enough to advance through to Q2.

As for the rest of the field, many drivers replicated Lawson’s opening error, running off at Turn 12 and taking to both the escape road and slippery grass as they avoided anything more than momentary yellow flags.

After the first set of times had been set, the order looked jumbled with Esteban Ocon topping the time sheets ahead of Fernando Alonso, before Yuki Tsunoda claimed the top spot.

At the same time, the usual front runners found themselves struggling as they fell towards the elimination zone, with Charles Leclerc joining the #81 as they edged closer to the at-risk P15.

With just under nine minutes remaining on the clock, the session took a turn when Franco Colapinto spun into the barriers after dipping his rear wheel off the racing line through Turn 3, prompting a Red Flag.

At the time of the Red Flag, both Mercedes drivers found themselves sitting in the elimination zone, and with rain intensifying as the session restarted, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell had a huge task ahead of them.

Wrestling his way out of the pit exit, Russell was forced to abandon his first lap after running in hot at Turn 1, rejoining the circuit dangerously ahead of Alex Albon before flying to the top of the order on his second push lap.

His teammate, although completing his lap, was demoted as a result, kickstarting a nightmare end to his qualifying campaign.

With both Hamilton and Norris at risk of a Q1 exit, there was only one position left in the safety zone and the McLaren driver magically earned it.

At a two-tenth deficit to the McLaren driver, Hamilton was forced into a shock Q1 exit in Brazil, audibly frustrated with his car as he came to terms with his starting position of P15 for the race in a few hours time.

Joining the seven-time world champion in a Q1 elimination were Oliver Bearman, Colapinto, Nico Hulkenberg and Zhou Guanyu.

Qualifying 2:

The best conditions of the session arrived at the start of Q2, however, the majority of drivers still started the session on the wet tyre.

The only driver brave enough to take the plunge on the intermediate tyre was Piastri, with his primary lap placing him in third-fastest, seven-tenths faster than his teammate.

Piastri’s choice proved to be the correct one when he set a time of 1:27.141s, jumping to P1 on his first tour of the Autódromo José Carlos Pace.

With a time of 1:25.179s, Piastri then shaved two seconds off his previous run, making it a clear-cut pathway through to the top ten shootout for the #81.

One of a few well-timed drivers to set a lap on the intermediate tyre before the Ferrari-induced Red Flag, Lawson promoted himself from the back of the pack to P5, splitting the Red Bull duo who missed out on completing a green-marked lap.

Returning to the circuit, the RB driver and his teammate improved despite a short stint in the elimination zone, with Lawson advancing to Q3 with the fourth-fastest time.

As for the other 13 drivers, it was the Red Bull duo who sat at the top of the timing sheets after the initial wet tyre. 

Soon, however, the entire field was inspired by Piastri’s opposite tyre choice and returned to the pitlane for a rapid change.

Only a few drivers were able to record a lap on the intermediate tyre, however, with the session coming to a halt after a second Red Flag was declared.

Getting on the throttle into Turn 2, Carlos Sainz was sent spinning into rearward contact with the tyre wall, bringing an end to his qualifying campaign while disrupting his competitors’ plans. 

The session resumed in a matter of minutes, but with the conditions already changing, the remaining five minutes were all the more chaotic.

The pressure was initially on Lando Norris who sat down in the elimination zone, however, after his improvement and a second Red Flag in Q2, it was Red Bull who felt the heat. 

After exiting the pitlane at the back of the extended queue, the #1 and #11 left themselves vulnerable to any potential incidents, with Lance Stroll’s repeat of Colapinto’s Q1 crash turning their nightmares into reality. 

Forced to slow through the first sector to avoid the Aston Martin at Turn 3, Verstappen and Perez’s laps were immediately wasted, with the entire session stripped from them after a Red Flag was declared 40 seconds after the initial impact.

Suffering from a five-place grid penalty, the Dutchman will start the upcoming Grand Prix from 17th on the grid, with Perez set to jump from P12. 

Joining them in the elimination zone were Valtteri Bottas, Sainz and Pierre Gasly.

Qualifying 3:

Only nine drivers’ chances of securing Pole position were still alive as the light went green to start Q3, however, Fernando Alonso soon joined his teammate in the garage after crashing out just minutes into the final session.

Spinning into the barriers at Turn 11, the Aston Martin driver left his mechanics cringing at the significant amount of work lying ahead of them, with hefty rear and frontal contact resulting in a crumbled AMR24.

With four minutes until the session restarted, five drivers left their garages, prioritising track position over the dry comfort their garages provided. 

Having set two fastest times of the session, Oscar Piastri was feeling confident as he tiptoed out of the pitlane, chasing a third top time to demote his then-benchmark holding teammate by the end of the remaining six minutes. 

It wasn’t to be on his first attempt, with the Australian harmlessly spinning across the slippery tarmac.

Not so harmlessly dealing with his own incident was Alex Albon who left his Williams car in pieces after a high-speed crash at the end of the main straight.

Questioning whether his brakes failed at the scene of his Lap 1 crash last year, Albon looked sore as he climbed out of the car, with the faces on the Williams mechanics echoing his pain at the realisation of all the work they have to complete ahead of the rapidly approaching Grand Prix.

Filing out of the pitlane once the track had gone green, the drivers were warned to be sensible as the rain continued to fall.

Piastri was keen to exit the pitlane, as highlighted by his premature queuing in the fast lane, however, he didn’t reap the exciting result he was hoping for.

Falling short compared to his teammate, the Australian crossed the line after two attempts with the eighth-fastest overall time, placing him behind Albon for the 71-lap race.

Prior to the first Red Flag, Lawson’s opening lap also fell short and left him as the second-slowest driver in Q3.

Like Piastri, he missed out on completing his lap during the short moment of action between the Red Flags, however, differentiating himself from the McLaren driver, Lawson improved when it mattered most.

The 22-year-old charged his way to a momentary front-row start, but as George Russell, his teammate and Esteban Ocon crossed the line, he was demoted to a still proud P5 start.

For the rest of the field, the first haul of laps was filled with errors as drivers focused on preparing their tyres for one final run. 

On that final run, improvements came across the board with Norris outpacing his own benchmark with a time of 1:23.405s to secure the highly-contested Pole position.

George Russell also impressed when he shot to second on the grid, an achievement earned after taking a risk by only running one lap.

Also taking a risk by waiting out the rain in the pitlane were the RB drivers, with Lawson setting his career-best qualifying result before being beaten out by Yuki Tsunoda. 

The Japanese driver lit up the timing sheets, bringing a rare smile to the pitlane when he secured a top-three starting position for the race.

P3 on the grid is Tsunoda’s best career result and a place the #22 will hope to remain in touch with when it comes to a points finish in the São Paulo event. 

Esteban Ocon managed to split the RB drivers after booking himself a P4 start, while Leclerc’s inability to improve on his individual sector times left him in a disappointing P6.

If Williams is to complete repairs on Albon’s car in time for the race or avoid a likely pitlane start, the Thai driver will take the start from P7 on the grid, with Piastri and his fellow crashers set to be in his mirrors. 

Lights out for the wet and wild São Paulo Grand Prix will take place at 2:30 AM, AEDT.

Image: Zak Mauger / LAT Images

Qualifying Results:

2024 São Paulo Grand Prix Schedule:

Saturday, November 2:

FP1: 01:30 – 02:30

Sprint Qualifying: 05:30 – 06:14

Sunday, November 3:

Sprint Race: 01:00 – 02:00

Qualifying: 21:30 – 22:30

Monday, November 4:

Race: 02:30

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