Brazilian GP qualifying postponed due to ‘unsafe conditions’ as teams face huge challenge | F1 | Sport
The FIA made the difficult decision to postpone qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix due to ‘unsafe conditions’ after hours of torrential rainfall in Sao Paulo.
Qualifying was scheduled to get underway at 6pm UK time, but rain hit the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace one hour prior to the green light and didn’t stop thereafter, leaving the track flooded with standing water.
The session was pushed back incrementally, but just before 8pm the decision was taken to postpone the action until Sunday morning. However, with more rain expected, it remains to be seen whether or not qualifying will go ahead at all.
The FIA released a statement on the matter, explaining: “The qualifying for the São 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.”
If qualifying cannot be run on Sunday morning then it remains to be seen how the grid will be set. The results from FP1 or the sprint shootout could be used, although this hasn’t been confirmed by the FIA.
In the event that FP1’s results dictate the starting grid, championship leader Max Verstappen will be sweating. He was classified in P16 and with his five-place grid penalty taken into account, he would be relegated to the back of the grid.
His championship rival Lando Norris would inherit the pole position and, with it, a priceless chance to take a major chunk out of Verstappen’s 44-point lead at the top of the Drivers’ Championship standings.
The other outcome would be the sprint shootout results setting the grid. This would leave Norris second on the grid with team-mate Oscar Piastri taking up the P1 grid slot. Verstappen, meanwhile, would start ninth with the penalty applied.
