SAO PAULO GP – Grand Prix qualifying postponed until Sunday morning
Grand Prix Qualifying for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix has been postponed until Sunday morning because of heavy rain. Following the sprint race a huge deluge of rain fell on Interlagos half an hour before the start of qualifying causing delays before the light started to fade away and the session was abandoned shortly before two hours after its scheduled start.
Between the sprint race and Grand Prix Qualifying, a heavy downpour saw the circuit turn into a lake and light began to fade during the second part of the afternoon. As the rain continued to fall in the time that followed – and with the forecast suggesting there would be no abating in the weather – it was announced that qualifying would not be able to take place, with the session now set to run on Sunday before the Grand Prix.
Twenty minutes into what should have been the start the session, the FIA sent out the medical car to probe the conditions while marshals were trying to clear water off the track, but there was still too much standing water to allow action to begin.
At 16:15 local time the rain began to intensify again, with the provisional start time of qualifying continuously assessed and pushed back with 15-minute intervals. The session was then delayed until 17:00, only giving eighty minutes until sunset but when the clock hit 17:20 rumours started spreading that qualifying would be likely delayed until 09:00BRT / 12:00GMT on Sunday morning.
If Sunday morning qualifying cannot take place the grid will likely be formed based on the order of Friday practice. Although Sprint Qualifying and Sprint Race went ahead as planned there is no current provision to use the result of the race to set the grid, although that will change from Shanghai in March.
There remains uncertainty about the forecast for Sunday, as well as the weather systems, are unpredictable in the ‘land of drizzle.’ But the sport could face uncertainty as there is no regulation to cover if qualifying cannot take place on Sunday morning.
The FIA confirmed to Sky Sports News that the decision would be made by the stewards if necessary, but said their preferred option remains to run qualifying on Sunday morning. In the event the classification from the only practice session of the weekend was used, Norris was fastest while Verstappen was fifteenth.
A statement from the FIA on qualifying being postponed and when we’ll find out what time on Sunday it will take place, “The Qualifying for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix is postponed. The decision was taken due to the lack of visibility caused by the level of rain we have experienced in the past few hours. There is a lot of standing water on parts of the circuit which renders conditions unsafe.”
“As much as we would all like to see competition on track, the safety of drivers, team members, volunteers, officials and spectators is our main priority. A decision on a start time for Qualifying tomorrow morning will be taken as soon as possible.”
The last time qualifying was postponed was in 2019 when it was called off on Friday evening in Suzuka because of Typhoon Hagibis. But while extremely rare, 2015 Austin, 2013 Melbourne and 2010, 2004 also at Suzuka were all run or completed on Sunday morning.
Related
- Sao Paulo GP – Sprint Result
- SAO PAULO GP – Lando Norris wins the sprint race six tenths ahead of teammate Oscar Piastri following team orders
- Sao Paulo GP – Sprint Qualifying
- SAO PAULO GP – Oscar Piastri beats Lando Norris to sprint pole by three hundredths with Max Verstappen fourth
- SAO PAULO GP – Lando Norris fastest by nearly two-tenths ahead of George Russell in practice
- Welcome to the Sao Paulo Grand Prix
- PRIXVIEW – Sao Paulo Grand Prix