INDIA in F1

Tag: Interlagos

  • Lando Norris claims pole in dramatic wet qualifying at Sao Paulo GP: F1

    Lando Norris claims pole in dramatic wet qualifying at Sao Paulo GP: F1

    Inter Lagos, 2 Nov 2024: Lando Norris claimed a potentially crucial pole position for the São Paulo Grand Prix at the end of a chaotic, rain-hit qualifying at Interlagos that was red-flagged five times and which left the McLaren driver’s title rival Max Verstappen in P12 and facing a P17 start after he takes a grid penalty for PU changes. 

    In soaking wet conditions a long queue formed at the end of the pit lane ahead of the session and when the green lights came on it was Alpine’s Esteban Ocon who set the early pace with a lap of 1:29.916. Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez slotted into P2 a tenth further back but RB’s Yuki Tsunoda then bypassed both with a lap of 1:29.172. 

    The first red flag of the session then came out. Franco Colapinto lost control of his Williams in the middle of Turn 3 and spun off into the barriers. The Argentinian was unhurt but the session was suspended. 

    After an eight-minute delay, the action got underway again, and with a couple of minutes left, Verstappen moved out of potential danger by claiming P5. His lap was deleted, however, as double waved yellow flags were being shown for an off for Nico Hülkenberg and the champion plummeted down to P12. However, in the final seconds he posted a lap 1:28.522 to jump to the top of the order ahead of Williams’ Alex Albon and Mercedes’ George Russell. 

    Further back there was no place in Q2 for Lewis Hamilton. The Mercedes driver dropped out in P16 ahead the Haas of Ollie Bearman, the unfortunate Colapinto, the second Haas of Hülkenberg and Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu. 

    Verstappen was to the fore again at the start of Q2. After Pérez got the ball rolling with a lap of 1:28.158, Verstappen powered past that, clearing his team-mate by 0.387s to set a time of 1:27.771. 

    However, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri had made the switch to Intermediate tyres and the Australian jumped to P1 six tenths of a second ahead of Verstappen, before improving again by almost a second to set the pace at 1:25.179.

    That sparked a mass move to Intermediates but while Russell and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll were able to exploit the green-banded tyres to climb to second and third respectively, there was no chance for anyone else to improve before the session was red-flagged for a second time. Carlos Sainz spun in Turn 2 and the Ferrari driver went backwards into the barriers, causing heavy damage to the back of the car. 

    After another eight-minute halt, the session was restarted and once again, on a drying track, the lottery kicked into gear. 

    Norris was first out on track and the Briton jumped to top spot with a lap of 1:24.844. However, further back on track, Stroll crashed in Turn 3. The red flags came out again and the stoppage denied both Red Bull drivers the chance to improve. With just 45 seconds left on the clock, there would be no resumption and Verstappen exited in P12, immediately ahead of team-mate Pérez. Also eliminated at the end of the middle segment were Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas in P11, Sainz in 14th place and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly in P15. 

    At the start of Q3, it was Norris who made the most of the conditions and the McLaren driver took top spot with a lap of 1:24.158, half a second clear of Albon, with Piastri in third place. 

    However, almost immediately after Norris crossed the line the red flags were flown for a fourth time. Fernando Alonso lost control in Turn 11 and he went off into the barriers at high speed. 

    After a 12-minute delay to repair the barriers, and with seven minutes left, the session resumed. But once again the action was brief. With three minutes remaining Albon’s Williams stepped out under braking into Turn 1 and he slammed hard into the barriers, doing severe damage to the rear and front left of his car. The red flags appeared for the fifth time. 

    And when the session resumed for the final time there was no stopping Norris. The Briton improved again to take pole with a time of 1:23.406 ahead of Russell with RB’s Yuki Tsunoda in third place. Alpine’s Esteban Ocon was fourth ahead of the second RB of Liam Lawson. Leclerc qualified sixth ahead of Alnon and Piastri with the Astons of Alonso and Stroll in ninth and tenth. 

    Lando Norris Quote:

    “A positive job as a team today. The car has great pace this weekend and I felt good out there. I think we were strong but it’s difficult to judge in a Sprint when everyone is looking at how much to manage and how much to push. Oscar deserved it today, but we’ve done what we had to do with our pursuit of the two Championships. We executed it very well and I’m thankful for his support. It’s a disappointing afternoon for the fans with Qualifying not going ahead but I’m looking forward to a strong performance tomorrow.”

    2024 FIA Formula 1 São Paulo Grand Prix – Qualifying
    1 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:23.405 – –
    2 George Russell Mercedes 1:23.578 0.173 
    3 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 1:24.111 0.706 
    4 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:24.475 1.070 
    5 Liam Lawson RB/Honda RBPT 1:24.484 1.079 
    6 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:24.525 1.120 
    7 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:24.657 1.252 
    8 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:24.686 1.281 
    9 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:28.998 5.593 
    10 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes – – –
    11 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 1:26.472 3.067 
    12 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:27.771 4.366 
    13 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:28.158 4.753 
    14 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:29.406 6.001 
    15 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:29.614 6.209 
    16 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:31.150 7.745 
    17 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 1:31.229 7.824 
    18 Franco Colapinto Williams/Mercedes 1:31.270 7.865 
    19 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1:31.623 8.218 
    20 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 1:32.263 8.858 

  • Vettel becomes most successful season qualifier in F1 history: A Pirelli view

    Interlagos, November 26, 2011  –  Today was the first qualifying session for Pirelli’s new P Zero Yellow soft compound tyre, making its competition debut in Brazil, which will actually form the basis of the medium tyre in 2012. As well as the soft compound, the other nominated tyre for the Brazilian Grand Prix is the current P Zero White medium.

    Two-time world champion Sebastian Vettel used the Pirelli tyres to become the driver who has scored the most pole positions in one season. By claiming his 15th pole position at the 19th and last grand prix of the year, the Red Bull Racing driver beats the record established by Nigel Mansell that has stood since 1992.

    Qualifying got underway in ambient temperatures of 27 degrees centigrade with cloudy conditions, underlining the risk of rain that is frequently a feature of the Brazilian Grand Prix. In order to get in a lap as quickly as possible, most drivers headed straight out at the beginning of qualifying one, with both Red Bulls, both McLarens, Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso and Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg using the P Zero White mediums to get through to qualifying two. The sudden rush caused plenty of traffic on one of the shortest circuits of the year, adding to the challenge for the drivers.

    It was a similar story during qualifying two, but this time all the drivers went straight onto the P Zero Yellow soft tyres in order to maximise dry running, with rain clouds just two kilometres away. The top drivers completed just one run during qualifying two, in order to maintain as many fresh soft tyres as possible for the final session.

    Conditions remained dry for qualifying three, with different approaches from the top runners on the P Zero Yellow tyres. McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton and Rosberg both completed a slower lap to warm up the tyres followed by a fast lap, while the Red Bull Racing cars and McLaren’s Jenson Button were straight onto a quick lap.

    Vettel set a time of 1m12.268s on his first run and then beat his own benchmark during the second run with a time of 1m11.918s on the soft tyres. His team mate Mark Webber qualified second ahead of the two McLarens. Mercedes driver Michael Schumacher went out on the medium tyre but did not set a time.

    Vettel also went quickest during the final free practice session this morning, held in dry and warm conditions, with a time of 1m12.460s on the P Zero Yellow: fractionally ahead of McLaren driver Jenson Button.

    Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery commented: “It was interesting for us to see the performance of our new compound in qualifying conditions, and I’d like to congratulate Sebastian Vettel for breaking the record of the most number of poles in one season with a spectacular lap: I actually had a bet with one of my colleagues that somebody would get under the 1m12s mark today. After the threat of rain didn’t materialise, it turned out to be a reasonably straightforward qualifying, but most people are expecting a much more mixed up race tomorrow. That’s obviously going to have a huge impact on the strategy, so we may well see our P Zero Orange wet tyres and P Zero Blue intermediates making their final appearance of the year.”