Qualifying will finally take place on Sunday at Interlagos. Less than an hour before the session was to begin, a very violent downpour arrived on the circuit and very quickly, it became obvious that the track would not be passable at 3:00 p.m. (7:00 p.m. French time) for the start of Q1.
After authorizing the teams to close their garages, which must normally remain open, the FIA announced a postponement of the session, initially without setting a deadline since the rain remained violent. The race management subsequently communicated several times, postponing the start of the session five times, from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Update : the qualifying time was set at 8:30 a.m. (12:30 p.m. in France) and the race was brought forward to 12:30 p.m. (4:30 p.m. in France).
Without any real improvement in conditions and as the light was dropping, knowing that any driving is impossible after dark at 6:21 p.m., it was finally decided to postpone the session until Sunday morning.
“Qualifying for the São Paulo Grand Prix is postponed”announced the FIA. “The decision was taken due to the lack of visibility caused by the level of rain we have experienced over the last few hours. There is a lot of standing water in several parts of the circuit, which means that the conditions are not safe.”
The rain was very heavy in Interlagos this Saturday
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
“While we would like to see competition on track, the safety of drivers, team members, volunteers, officials and spectators is our top priority. A decision on the start time of qualifying tomorrow morning will be made taken as soon as possible.”
Stefano Domenicali confirmed that it was becoming impossible to organize qualifying this Saturday. “We can’t control the weather, you know that”declared the president of Formula 1 on F1 TV. “It’s a shame but the conditions are not safe to ride, it’s as simple as that. And there is also a problem, the light, which will soon fall on the track so this is unfortunately the situation that we must manage.”
“The FIA is now making final checks on what could be the right timing to organize and follow the program for the day [de dimanche]”added Domenicali. “It’s a great event and we need to make sure we maximize everything in acceptable conditions, naturally.”
