News Summary
- Q1 will resume at 16:26 local time, equivalent to 19:26 GMT in the UK and 14:26 EST on the US and Canadian East Coast.
- Race control stopped qualifying after 2 minutes and 23 seconds when drivers reported aquaplaning.
- The FIA sent the Safety Car out to inspect standing water while São Paulo’s Civil Defence issued a storm and lightning alert.
São Paulo Grand Prix qualifying is set to resume at 16:26 local time on Saturday, race control announced. The restart is scheduled for 1 hour and 26 minutes after Q1 originally began at Interlagos.
A downpour arrived in the final minute before the scheduled 15:00 start. Four cars pulled out of the pit-lane queue so their crews could swap intermediates for full wets. Drivers who went out on intermediates reported aquaplaning, and race control showed the red flag after just 2 minutes and 23 seconds.
Safety Car checks standing water during the delay
Safety Car driver Bernd Mayländer identified standing water at Turns 2 and 3 and between Turns 4 and 5. The rain intensified during the stoppage, and marshals worked to clear water from the track while the FIA assessed conditions.
Thunderstorms had been forecast around qualifying, and São Paulo’s Civil Defence sent an alert to mobile phones around Interlagos warning of heavy rain and lightning. The scheduled restart comes just under two hours before sunset at 18:23 local time.
Earlier on Saturday, Max Verstappen had edged Andrea Kimi Antonelli by 0.025s in final practice on soft tyres. Drivers will now return to a circuit where standing water had made even slow laps difficult at the start of Q1.
GRANDE PRÊMIO is following every session of the São Paulo Grand Prix in Formula 1 live from Interlagos.
