McLaren double at the Sprint in Brazil, qualifying postponed due to rain

On the Saturday of the Brazilian Grand Prix the green-gold of its flag seems to take on orange-papaya hues due to what was an almost completely unchallenged dominance of McLaren around the curves of the historic Interlagos circuit. The one-two in the sprint race, which was not followed by qualifying due to the severe bad weather conditions that hit the track and which were decisive for the postponement of the session until tomorrow, nevertheless gave a partial but clear measure of the supremacy of the Woking single-seaters . The high level of balance has in fact allowed Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri not to suffer excessively from the dangers posed by the new Brazilian asphalt, which would appear not to have improved the conditions of the track, but rather created new depressions and bumps which they made life difficult for most pilots. These conditions determined the easy victory in the sprint race by Norris – with an associated exchange of positions between the Briton and Piastri – which is important if we look at the fight for the drivers’ title.

Three points were earned by Norris himself over his rival Max Verstappen who, despite taking third place under the checkered flag of the sprint race, had to serve a five-second penalty for the infringement committed under the Virtual Safety Car, which then positioned behind Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari, therefore third following this change. “I tried to put pressure on Norris, but it was a tough race, especially considering the wear of our rear tires at the end of the race”, commented the Monegasque following a performance with many errors, especially in the first sector, due precisely to the depressions created by the new asphalt, to which the SF-24 did not react effectively.

Leclerc who therefore confirms his starting position, as well as Carlos Sainz, fifth at the start and at the finish line, given the too much distance from the leading group but also the gap that the Spaniard managed to create compared to George Russell’s Mercedes. “We are not at McLaren’s level, we have to do something to improve the car if we want to do better tomorrow”, said Sainz himself, who therefore postponed the challenge to Sunday, despite not knowing that a few hours later he would no longer be possible to take to the track to take part in the ordinary qualifying session. The severe bad weather conditions that hit the Interlagos circuit have in fact made the track impassable for drivers and cars, with the FIA ​​postponing the estimated starting time by half an hour by half an hour, only to then definitively postpone the qualification directly to the tomorrow, Sunday.

“With these conditions it is impossible to race, they are not suitable for the safety of the drivers”, assured the president of Formula One, Stefano Domenicali, who in a now unofficial postponement expressed his opinion on the FIA’s decision not to let the cars take to the track , followed by the many road tests carried out by the safety car and the medical car, in addition to the intense asphalt drying operations by the stewards, which later proved to be in vain. Qualifying has therefore been postponed, by regulation at least four hours before the race, scheduled for 18:00, Italian time, even if the weather conditions do not seem likely to change drastically compared to today’s rainy Brazilian afternoon. A strong papaya mark therefore remains on the green-and-gold Saturday, waiting to understand whether tomorrow, but also and above all the weather conditions, can shuffle the cards with just four races to go until the end of the season.