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F1 Brazilian GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP2 and sprint
Minute-by-minute updates for the F1 Brazilian GP's FP2 and sprint race sessions
F1’s sprint race format returns at the penultimate round of the 2022 season, which is set to shake up the Brazilian GP at Interlagos.
Having wrapped up both F1 world titles already this season, Max Verstappen and Red Bull will look to take another clean sweep having won both sprint races earlier this season at Imola and the Red Bull Ring.
But Verstappen will need to beat shock polesitter Kevin Magnussen, who secured top spot in a wet qualifying, after Q3 was halted by a red flag caused by George Russell sliding off, before the weather worsened and denied any chance for improvements.
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To the surprise of nobody, Stroll forcing Vettel off the track has been noted by the stewards.
Vettel gets the move on Ocon done into Turn 1 starting lap 11, as behind Ricciardo moves ahead of Stroll.
Vettel has now moved ahead of Stroll into 11th and is sizing up Ocon, who is holding up a train also comprising Stroll and Ricciardo.
Crikey, Stroll is taking no prisoners today. He defends hard against Aston team-mate Vettel, who gets a good run on him exiting Turn 3, and pushes the four-time world champion right over to the grass verge. "Okay," is the German's response over the radio.
The stewards have noted a starting procedure infringement involving Hamilton, Zhou and Ricciardo. We'll let you know more on that when we hear.
Russell is keeping up his pursuit of Verstappen, the gap 1.1s between them last time around after eight laps. But as his tyres wear faster, will Verstappen pull away?
Perez now moves ahead of Norris into Turn 1 for sixth, so will be the next one to attack Magnussen. He's fallen away from Hamilton ahead.
Leclerc hasn't made huge progress from tenth on the grid. He gained one spot at Alonso's expense and also passed Ocon, who has slipped back to tenth.
Norris had been fourth at the end of lap one after a move on Sainz at Turn 1 starting lap two, but the Ferrari man managed to duck back underneath him and now runs third. Norris also fell behind Hamilton, who has now cleared Magnussen and runs fourth.
Alonso isn't finished yet. "He pushed me in Turn 4 and then finally in the straight. Well done," he says over the radio. He's stone cold last after a stop to replace his wing.
"I lost the front wing, thanks to our friend," reports Alonso. Replays show he did indeed clip Ocon's right-rear tyre with his front wing, breaking the left-hand side. He'd earlier had a big slide at Turn 4 on lap one as he tried to go around the outside of the Frenchman and made slight contact as he gathered it up.
Russell knows his tyres won't have peak performance for as long as Verstappen and quickly follows past Magnussen into Turn 1 at the start of lap four, while Sainz uses DRS to take third on the inside of Turn 4.
Lead change! Verstappen blasts up behind Magnussen and takes the Haas driver into Turn 1 at the start of lap three.
It's a good opening lap for Schumacher, he's up from last to 16th. Alonso has lost a bunch of positions and heads for the pits.
Russell is pushing Verstappen hard for second as the Alpines appear to make contact on the start-finish straight. Has Alonso lost some of his front wing?
It's a perfect start for Magnussen, who bolts into the lead as Verstappen fends off an attack from Russell into Turn 1 to hold onto second.
The cars are lining up on the grid, and we're moments away from the sprint race start. Who is your money on?
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"Good luck Kev, have fun," our poleman is told over the radio as he leads the field around to the grid for the first time in his F1 career.
Verstappen then is clearly playing the long game, but could his harder tyre choice cost him ground at the start?
The mechanics leave their cars, and we're away for the formation lap.
So, on the all-important tyre front, it appears that only Verstappen and Latifi have gone conservative with the medium and that everybody else is starting on softs.
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Has Kevin Magnussen ever been in this much demand before a race? Perhaps not, but no doubt he'll be enjoying every minute.
While all the attention has been on Magnussen in the build up, spare a thought for his team-mate Mick Schumacher. The second Haas will be coming from 20th and last on the grid.
Nervy moments now for all concerned as we wait for the formation lap to begin.
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A touching moment between Haas boss Gunther Steiner and Magnussen's engineer Mark Slade, who remarks: "A long time since I've been here [at the front of the grid]". The Briton previously worked with Kimi Raikkonen at McLaren and Lotus.
One unknown question going into this race is how aggressive Verstappen will be. Nobody wants to break a front wing going for a risky lunge that could compromise the grid positions for tomorrow, but with the championship sewn up will he be unshackled and go for it?
The waiting is nearly over, as drivers are getting their helmets on and being strapped into their cars.
We have air temperatures of 22.8 °C and track temperatures of 35.9 °C. How many will opt to go aggressive with the soft tyre?
The timing screens inform us that there is a 10% risk of rain during the sprint. If it is going to disrupt today's proceedings, then it will have to come along soon.
Qualifying was a bit of a nightmare for Leclerc, who was the only driver to start the session on intermediate rubber as Ferrari split its strategy. It was clearly the wrong call, as everybody else set their banker laps on slicks, and the worsening rain which caught Russell out and caused the red flag scuppered his efforts at a representative time. Here's the full story on Leclerc's malaise: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/ferrari-explains-leclercs-inter-tyre-choice-mistake/10398397/
Intriguingly, we have six different cars filling the top six positions on the grid. Max Verstappen lines up second for Red Bull ahead of George Russell's Mercedes, the McLaren of Lando Norris, Carlos Sainz's Ferrari and Esteban Ocon (Alpine). Fernando Alonso breaks that chain with the second Alpine in seventh ahead of Lewis Hamilton, Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc. We'll get onto the Monegasque next...
Now, Magnussen isn't the first shock poleman we've seen down the years at Interlagos. Back in 2010, the man rumoured to be announced shortly as his team-mate at Haas Nico Hulkenberg took his maiden F1 pole with Williams - but dropped like a stone in the race. Can Magnussen hold off the baying pack behind him and keep himself at the sharp end for the Grand Prix tomorrow? It's a tall order, but the Dane will no doubt have been sharpening his elbows in readiness for the scrap.
Magnussen was of course originally planning to race for Peugeot in the World Endurance Championship this year prior to his recall by Haas. Peugeot had a tough old time of it in the WEC season finale in Bahrain today, as the #8 Toyota crew of Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa clinched the title. We'll have the full report from that race on Autosport.com soon.
The cars have lined up on the grid for the sprint, which will be held over 24 laps. We'll let you know shortly who is running on what compound of tyres.
Magnussen may not have stood on an F1 podium since his debut at the 2015 Australian GP, but he has had recent experience of winning. That came during his year out of grand prix racing, in the IMSA SportsCar Championship last season. He shared a Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac with Renger van der Zande as the pair took the spoils at the Detroit round.
It was Magnussen's first F1 pole, and the first too for his Haas team since it arrived in F1 in 2015. As feel-good stories go, this was right up there. But as Adam Cooper explains here, it wasn't all down to luck either: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/the-factors-that-helped-magnussen-pull-off-shock-f1-pole/10398564/
In case you've been under a rock and missed it yesterday, Kevin Magnussen will start from pole after surprising everybody in Q3 as the weather began to turn. Not much chance of a repeat of that today it appears, but then you never can tell with Brazil sometimes...
Welcome back one and all, we're just over 20 minutes away from the start of the sprint race in Interlagos. Hope you're sitting comfortably, this one could be fun.
We'll be back shortly for something that WILL be exciting (we hope!) - the sprint race, which begins in about 2 hours and 45 minutes by our watches. See you then!
By: autosport.com
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