Brazil GP Qualifying Report

Once again the hot topic of the weekend, is whether Perez will keep his contract for next year.  Or even until the end of the season.  The Qualifying session was delayed as there was debris on track which the marshals slowly swept away.

There were spits of rain towards the end of the first session but it didn't slow down the last laps the drivers put in.  Both Alpha Tauris went out, Tsunoda one place higher than Red Bull wannabe Ricciardo.  The Japanese driver felt impeded by Hamilton.  Both Alfa Romeos were out and Sargeant in his Williams too.

The second session was dry and uneventful.  Albon, who was in contention, had a lap deleted so went out in 15th, not attempting to put in a qualifying lap in this session.  Both Alpines and both Haas were out too.  Norris was in first.  

At the start of the final session, Ted could feel rain in the pit lane and Ferrari told LeClerc that it would come in 7 minutes.  There were definitely dark clouds in the sky.  Piastri was the first driver to be caught out and was sent drifting across the grass.  Sainz was also  off the track and those who hadn't put an early lap in would not get a good lap in before the rain came down and the session was red flagged.

As the rain fell down, teams were allowed to close their garage doors and Verstappen held pole, LeClerc second and Stroll in third.  The Aston Martins did well getting out quickly, with Alonso in fourth.  Next was both Mercedes, Hamilton then Russell.  Finishing the top ten were Norris, Sainz, Perez and Piastri.

The drivers were interviewed in the Safety Car pit as the thunder rumbled outside.