“I have never experienced anything like it”
Scary conditions: F1 qualifying ends early
November 3rd, 2023, 10:30 p.m
The dominance is unbroken: World champion Max Verstappen is on pole position for the eleventh time in the 20th Formula 1 race of the season. In the final phase, a storm with stormy gusts of wind and the onset of rain prevented the competition from having better times.
Under the almost black afternoon sky of São Paulo, Max Verstappen did not let the almost frightening weather conditions slow him down. In qualifying, which ended early, the three-time Formula 1 world champion set the fastest lap in his Red Bull at just the right time before a heavy downpour flooded the legendary circuit in Interlagos. “It’s really crazy, this weather,” said Verstappen during the interview, which was conducted in a dry garage. Nobody wanted to leave. “I’ve never experienced anything like that before,” said Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, who finished second.
The Aston Martin duo Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso took third and fourth place, followed by record world champion and honorary citizen of Brazil Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes. Nico Hülkenberg missed the top ten and finished eleventh in the Haas. It started late – and still dry. But the route had to be cleaned again. The fans took it in stride, the news of the contract extension had long since made the rounds: the legendary circuit in Interlagos will be a stopover until at least 2030.
Also to the delight of the pilots, after just one hour of free practice, the starting grid for the Grand Prix on Sunday (6 p.m. on Sky and in the live ticker on ntv.de) carry out. It will be the last weekend of the year for Brazil with a sprint race on Saturday, so qualification was already on the agenda the day before. For Verstappen, things didn’t seem to be going as usual as world champions at first. “My car jumps like a kangaroo,” complained the 26-year-old Dutchman. George Russell, the sprint and race winner in Brazil a year ago, initially set the fastest time. And lo and behold: Verstappen quickly tamed the Red Bull and was only 96 thousandths of a second slower.
“Satisfied, you couldn’t have expected that”
Leclerc was third and Hülkenberg fourth – this brought back memories of his sensational – and to date – only pole in Formula 1, when he qualified first in the rain on the Williams track in 2010. On a dry track, he fought in vain to get into the top ten. Eleventh place in the Haas was respectable for the 36-year-old Emmerich native. “Satisfied, you couldn’t have expected that,” he said on Sky. Verstappen was also in second place in the second section.
The dark clouds now became even darker. Nobody wanted to lose time in the fight for the ten best starting positions. As soon as it rained, best times would no longer be possible. Verstappen immediately suggested that it should rain in two minutes, and the Formula 1 control panel flashed on. And what appeared in the sky was frightening. The fans in the stands put on their rain jackets. “It’s night,” Alonso radioed to the pits. The wind also increased. “It’s totally strange,” said Leclerc. Everyone was in the pits – then came the red flags and the end of the session just four minutes before the end.