Forget the traditional “it's raining, it's wet, it's a frog party, the frog has made its nest, under a large umbrella” and replace with “it's raining, it's wet, it's a frog party , Lando has made his nest, under a large umbrella. Yes, because in the continuous rain on the Interlagos circuit, the McLaren driver was the strongest this Sunday during qualifying.
Still in the race for the world champion title, the Briton especially saw his main opponent, Max Verstappen, fail. The leader in the Formula 1 world championship will only start 17th in the Brazilian Grand Prix after his premature elimination during the second part of qualifying (Q2) combined with a penalty on the grid.
Red flag raised five times
On the rain-soaked Interlagos circuit in Sao Paulo, the Red Bull driver was notably the victim of a red flag at the very end of Q2, cutting him off in his attempt to snatch his ticket into the Top 10. Indeed , less than a minute from the end of Q2, Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) was the victim of an off-track event, which caused the red flag to be displayed and the premature end of this second part of qualifying.
The red flag was brought out five times during these qualifications, a record since Imola in 2022. Another Aston Martin driver, Fernando Alonso also ended up in the barriers. Franco Colapinto and Carlos Sainz also went off the track. Can’t wait for the start of the Grand Prix, which will take place at 4:30 p.m.! Still in the rain.
