Chaotic qualifying in wet conditions
After being pushed to Sunday, qualifying finally got underway in Brazil for the Brazilian Grand Prix 2024 under wet conditions, which had denied qualifying to take place on Saturday and with there being plenty of rain and a wet track, it was quite an eventful qualifying session.
It chaos right from the start as there were multiple red flags, at least one red flag in every qualifying session, as the drivers were tested on a wet track and it was McLaren’s Lando Norris stealing a stunning pole to start the Brazilian race from pole positions while the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen suffered early exits.
Q1 – Hamilton suffers shock exit; Norris scrapes by
In wet conditions, the cars came out cautiously as Alpine’s Esteban Ocon set the early benchmark with a 1:29.9s. It was Williams’ driver Franco Colapinto bringing out the Red Flag with just under nine minutes to go as he crashed out at Turn 3.
With just over a minute to go, it was Yuki Tsunoda on top of the time sheets but it was Lewis Hamilton, who was the big name in the drop zone and the seven-time world champion put in a commendable lap to get himself out of the relegation which meant for a brief moment but with Liam Lawson putting in strong final laps, Hamilton dropped back into the bottom five and failed to make it out of Q1 along with Ollie Bearman, Franco Colapinto, Nico Hülkenberg and Sauber’s Zhou.
Drivers eliminated in Q1
Lewis Hamilton
Ollie Bearman
Franco Colapinto
Nico Hülkenberg
Zhou Guanyu
Q2 – Red Bulls knocked out; Sainz, Stroll causes chaos
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz brought out the Red Flag early on in Q2, and in wet conditions, it was a flurry of Red Flags as the session was interrupted again after Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll crashed at Turn 3, which meant, it was the end of the session and that saw both Red Bull stuck in the drop zone along with Bottas, Gasly and Sainz. With Verstappen taking an engine penalty, the Dutchman will eventually start P17.
Drivers eliminated in Q2
Valtteri Bottas
Max Verstappen
Sergio Pérez
Carlos Sainz
Pierre Gasly
Q3 – Norris on pole as Tsunoda impresses
And like Q1 and Q2, Q3 started with a Red Flag as well, as the remaining Aston Martin, Fernando Alonso had a heavy crash in the final sector. While Lando Norris got things going, it was Yuki Tsunoda with a stellar lap, going second, above the Mercedes of George Russell, which Russell later on got back. Norris eventually held on to his pole from Russell with Tsunoda on the second row with Esteban Ocon.
Starting Grid for the Brazilian Grand Prix 2024 (before any qualifying penalties)
1. Lando Norris
2. George Russell
3. Yuki Tsunoda
4. Esteban Ocon
5. Liam Lawson
6. Charles Leclerc
7. Alex Albon
8. Oscar Piastri
9. Fernando Alonso
10. Lance Stroll
11. Valtteri Bottas
12. Max Verstappen*
13. Sergio Pérez
14. Carlos Sainz
15. Pierre Gasly
16. Lewis Hamilton
17. Ollie Bearman
18. Franco Colapinto
19. Nico Hülkenberg
20. Zhou Guanyu
*Max Verstappen will be getting a five-place (to P17) drop due to an engine penalty
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