Magnussen won the qualification in Sao Paulo

Mostly cloudy. Wet track. Air + 19 ° C, trace + 27 ° C

Qualifying in Sao Paulo is always interesting, especially during the sprint weekend, when there is only one hour of training left. The results on the short lap are tight, the track is slippery, it’s important not to get into traffic, you have to do everything right.

In training Sergio Perez set the best time, and qualifying, like a year ago, was moved to the evening so that the fans had time to go home from work. However, the stands of São Paulo were full during the day.

An hour before qualifying the fog fell and a little rain fell, but it ended early, there was little water on the track and the session started on time.

In the first session all left on the intermediate tire, even if the asphalt was almost dry. Only in the last corner and on the straight behind the cars was a small path visible. The drivers worked on a series of laps, the track conditions gradually improved, as did the results.

Gasly was the first to switch to slicks, followed by the others. With each lap, the track became faster, almost everyone was on the front line, as a result, Lando Norris left it behind – 1: 13.106 and Latifi, Zhou, Bottas, Tsunoda and Schumacher came out of the fight.

In the second session all left on slick. The riders worked again in a series of circles. In the first attempt, Verstappen showed the best time – 1: 11.318.

It started to rain a bit again, the riders continued their attempts on slicks. Max added – 1: 10.881, Sainz also drove faster, consequently losing nine thousandths. Albon, Gasly, Vettel, Ricciardo and Stroll did not qualify for the final.

In the final Leclerc started the session with intermediate tires, the rest went out with slicks. After passing the circle, Leclerc returned to the pits and also switched to slicks, not hiding his disappointment at the team’s decision.

Kevin Magnussen was in first place in 1: 11.674 when the session was interrupted by red flags: George Russell got stuck in the gravel after crashing at turn four. Haas F1 dreamed that the rain would intensify, recording the results.

And so it happened, during the break it started to rain, Perez went out with intermediate tires, the rest looked at what was happening from the pits, evaluating the track conditions. Not completing the circle, Sergio returned to the pits: there was no possibility of improving the result.

In the final minutes Hamilton started with intermediate tires, but rather to please the fans.

Kevin Magnussen won Sao Paulo qualifying with the best result of his career and in Haas F1 history and a great birthday present for team owner Gene Haas.

The starting order of the riders in the Sunday race will be determined in the Saturday sprint.

Qualifying results