Here is our full text transcript from the qualifying session for the 2023 Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix:
Right, ready for your sixth and final instalment of Friday night Grand Prix qualifying this season? There’s still more race weekends to go after this one of course this season – Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi – but this one in Sao Paulo is the final one of the year that runs to the Sprint format. That means one practice session, which has been completed a little earlier, and straight in to qualifying for Sunday’s main-event grand prix.
If you missed Practice One a little earlier, what you need to know is that with most teams conducting longer runs on slower tyres, the final timesheet gave few clues away as to the pecking order around Interlagos. The Ferraris were fastest in the end, but Red Bull, Mercedes and McLaren didn’t run on the quickest soft tyres like the Maranello team as they kept their pace a little more hidden.
It has been Ferrari, of course, and Charles Leclerc who have taken pole position over the past two weeks in this Americas triple header – can they make it a hat-trick? This has the potential to be a thrilling qualifying. We didn’t get a true indicator as to who has the pace because the Red Bulls and Mercedes cars avoided the soft tyres in practice. The first time they will use that compound will be in Q1. The McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri lit up the timing screens on the medium and soft tyres respectively in practice but both boxed before completing their laps.
Interlagos is a short track too, so the field will be bunched and the smallest of mistakes at the end of each segment in qualifying could be very costly.
Qualifying has been delayed by 15 minutes due to debris on track from the support series here in Interlagos.
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Sky Sports F1’s Ted Kravitz on Ferrari: “Ferrari have a car that’s able to create peak performance over one lap. The race might be a different matter, they might just need to nurse their tyres. The rear wing is quite shallow, a medium angle. Compared to the Red Bull which has a thick angle rear wing. Red Bull have more downforce, they can do that because they have an aerodynamically efficient car. This one is going to be close between the Ferraris, Verstappen, potentially Perez, the McLarens and Mercedes.”
The track is nearly cleared and the FIA have confirmed Q1 will begin at 6.15pm. Half of the track is under the sun, half is under some thick white cloud. If we get any rain, it will probably be in Q3.
This weekend is the last Sprint event on the 2023 calendar but just in case you’re still unsure, this qualifying coming up will set the grid for Sunday’s Grand Prix. Tomorrow, there is another qualifying, known as the Sprint Shootout, that sets the grid for the Sprint later on Saturday. Normal rules apply this evening though for qualifying, with five drivers eliminated in Q1 and Q2 before the top 10 drivers battle it out for pole position.
We have one minute until Q1 begins and we already have a queue at the end of the pit lane!
13 mins to go: Max Verstappen is next across the line, but the world champion is 0.3s back from Lando Norris – that’s quite the margin. Meanwhile, Ferrari duo Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc are only 10th and 11th after runs on used soft tyres. 12 mins to go in Q1: Lewis Hamilton slots into second and George Russell is fifth. Hamilton is 0.261s behind Norris though which is a decent chunk around Interlagos. But George Russell is facing a post-session investigation for impeding Pierre Gasly at the pit lane exit. After a change in regulations ahead of this race, Russell could be in trouble for that.
10 mins to go in Q1: The Ferraris are on their flying laps and Carlos Sainz is told “no rain for two to three minutes”. But, it’s certainly getting darker at the far end of the track. Charles Leclerc goes quickest on a 1:10.472 and Carlos Sainz is 0.428s slower which puts him fourth. Fernando Alonso then goes third, so the track is ramping up a lot. Oscar Piastri provides more evidence to suggest that McLaren have a very strong package for qualifying. He goes second on the soft tyre, just half a tenth back from Charles Leclerc. Lance Stroll has done an impressive lap to go third, while Sergio Perez has just jumped up to fifth.
5 mins to go in Q1: Lance Stroll goes third which is a very strong lap from the Aston Martin driver. Meanwhile, it looks like the rain will just miss the track…3 mins to go in Q1: Alex Albon is now fourth in the Williams and Mercedes are taking new soft tyres as Lewis Hamilton is only ninth and George Russell is 14th. 2 mins to go: We’ve got almost the entire field out on track, apart from the top two of Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri. Everyone is looking to guarantee their place in Q2, but with drops of rain falling improvement could be hard to find. Chequered flag: Daniel Ricciardo can’t improve enough and he’s out of qualifying as is AlphaTauri team-mate Yuki Tsunoda. Not what either driver need as they look to impress at Red Bull’s sister team.
It was George Russell who ended up fastest and just half a second split the top 17 cars in Q1. This is going to be a very exciting Q2 and Q3. Max Verstappen was second and Charles Leclerc third but the margins are so tight. 15 mins to go: Judging by the way Q1 finished, several big names could be under threat in Q2. The action has begun, and it’s once more a busy pit lane with the threat of rain still around.
15 mins to go: Judging by the way Q1 finished, several big names could be under threat in Q2. The action has begun, and it’s once more a busy pit lane with the threat of rain still around. 12 mins to go in Q2: Max Verstappen is quickest in a 1:10.162 which is 0.208s faster than Sergio Perez. That’s a new fastest time of the weekend so far.
8 mins to go in Q2: Charles Leclerc, George Russell and Carlos Sainz are currently in the drop zone. They all set their times on used tyres but a yellow or red flag at the wrong moment could prove very costly. Lewis Hamilton is only sixth, so he isn’t exactly safe either. Haas waited a little longer to send their cars out on track, and it’s a pretty encouraging result. Nico Hulkenberg goes P8, with Kevin Magnussen slotting in directly behind him. They would both be going through as things stand, but it’s very tight.
3 mins to go in Q2: Lando Norris goes fastest with a very impressive 1:10.021. Fernando Alonso is third as Aston Martin appear to be back on form. Alex Albon has his best lap time deleted so drops to 15th. After that big save at the bottom of the backstraight on his previous run, Lewis Hamilton is only ninth on the timesheet and two tenths inside the cut line. He needs a strong final lap to be sure of his Q3 place…
Chequered flag: Nico Hulkenberg can’t improve enough, so is the first driver out in Q2. Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly also can’t get into the top 10, so are also out in Q2. Kevin Magnussen is not happy with a Ferrari at Turn 7 which he claims got on his way. At the top, it’s Lando Norris fastest from Max Verstappen and Martin Brundle thinks McLaren are looking better and better to take pole position. Norris was 0.141s ahead of Verstappen, with Perez only another half a tenth further back. Fernando Alonso finished Q2 in fourth and Carlos Sainz was fifth. Mercedes look to be out of the battle for pole position today as Lewis Hamilton was sixth and George Russell eighth. More cloud is rumbling over Interlagos but no sign of any rain in the next 15 minutes though. The track temperature is dropping and the McLaren is coming alive in these conditions. We saw a glimpse of their pace in practice but Lando Norris is getting faster and faster with every lap he goes. Max Verstappen will need to seriously deliver to take pole position because Norris is looking very confident.
Ferrari predict rain will arrive seven minutes into the session, so maybe the dark clouds will bubble over the circuit! These opening laps could be crucial. 10 mins to go: Max Verstappen came charging out of the garage and immediately overtook George Russell in the pit lane. He then tried to do the same to Lewis Hamilton, but the seven-time world champion wasn’t having any of it and sped off to maintain track position.
Verstappen sets time to beat, 9 mins to go in Q3: It’s a 1:10.727 which is six tenths slower than the Q2 time but Charles Leclerc and George Russell can’t beat him. 8 mins to go in Q3: Lando Norris can only go seventh and we have some rain! Lance Stroll puts his Aston Martin third and Fernando Alonso is fourth. This is their best qualifying for a very long time. Oscar Piastri is off! The Australian was one of the last cars on track and paid the ultimate price as the damp and windy conditions saw him go off track. No time for him, and he’s set for P10.
5 mins to go in Q3: Fernando Alonso radios in and says “it’s night”. He’s pretty much right because it is very very dark over the track.
The stewards have red flagged the session and qualifying will not resume. A message popped up on the screens to confirm a “change in climatic conditions” and we won’t get any more running today. It’s a slightly strange one, but it’s another pole position for Max Verstappen. He’ll be joined on the front row by Charles Leclerc, while Aston Martin have locked out the second row with Lance Stroll ahead of Fernando Alonso. Carlos Sainz will start from P8.
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