#BrazilGP Qualifying: @Max33Verstappen scores pole before storm hits Interlagos. #F1 #SaoPauloGP

Verstappen Brazil GP Pole – Red Bull’s Max Verstappen claimed his 31^st-career pole position over Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc at the Brazil GP as the thunderstorm rolled over Sao Paulo to red flag the Q3 battle.

The Sao Paulo skyline became increasingly heavy as the dark clouds came over the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace, prompting all ten drivers to queue early as the rain looked to be imminent in the opening phase of proceedings.

When it emerged, the track descended into darkness to bring out the red flags, as the rain finally came down once the opening tours were complete.

In Q3, all ten drivers went straight out to do just one initial flyer before the storm hit as Verstappen posted all three purple sectors to set a 1:10.727 effort and was 0.294 seconds clear to take pole position by 0.294 seconds over Leclerc with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso taking the second row of the grid in third and fourth respectively.

The Mercedes pairing followed as Mercedes’ Sir Lewis Hamilton and George Russell occupied the third row in fifth and sixth respectively.

McLaren’s Lando Norris took seventh and ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz who was eighth and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri rounding out the top ten.

Piastri suffered a spin at Juncao on his hot-lap after running over the kerb.

In the middle segment, which was topped by Norris, Haas F1 Team’s Nico Hulkenberg qualified outside the top ten in 11^th place and ahead of Alpine pairing Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly who were 12^th and 13^th respectively.

The second Haas VF-23 entry of Kevin Magnussen and Williams Racing’s Alexander Albon were the slowest of the Q2 runners as the latter also had his lap time invalidated for exceeding track limits at turn four.

In the opening qualifying stage, which was topped by Russell, a late improvement from Ocon saw AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda knocked out in Q1 to fall into 16^th and in-front of team-mate Daniel Ricciardo.

Alfa Romeo duo Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu placed 18^th and at the rear respectively as Williams Racing’s Logan Sargeant sandwiched the two C43 entries in 19^th.

Both impeding incidents involving Russell who held up Gasly and the latter hindering team-mate Ocon are currently under investigation by the stewards.

You can see the full Formula 1 Rolex Grande Premio De Sao Paulo 2023 Qualifying Results Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2023/races/1224/brazil/qualifying.html

2023 Brazil GP Qualifying – The Top Three

2023 Brazil GP Pole – Max Verstappen, #1, Oracle Red Bull Racing, Honda-RBPT, RB19, 1:10.727:

“We didn’t know when it would hit in qualifying, this is of course insane weather. Charles [Leclerc] and I were discussing, our laps felt terrible, the wind was strong, and we lost a lot of lap time as a result.”

2^nd Place – Charles Leclerc, #16, Scuderia Ferrari, SF-23, +0.294s:

“To be honest today was – in my whole career I’ve never experienced anything like that. There was no rain, but the car was extremely hard to drive. I nearly came in, but I’m glad I finished my lap! It’s a very weird one for everyone out there today.”

3^rd Place – Lance Stroll, Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team-Mercedes, AMR23, +0.617s:

“The car was feeling good throughout the session and Q3 was really tricky. My lap was pretty bad, a few lock ups, missed some apexes but good enough for P3 which is a good result. It’s been tricky the last couple of weekends, Mexico was a tough weekend but today has been a great day.”

#BrazilGP FP1: @Carlossainz55 pips @CharlesLeclerc by 0.108s, @Max33Verstappen 16th. #F1 #SaoPauloGP

#F1 @Rolex Grande Premio De Sao Paulo 2023 Preview. #BrazilianGP #BrazilGP #Formula1