Brazilian GP final practice and qualifying

By: Geoff Creighton

Summary


	Verstappen tops every qualifying session on the way to pole position
	Vettel and Hamilton complete the top three
	Leclerc will start 14th after taking his 10 place grid penalty
	An engine issue for Sainz meant that he did not set a time in qualifying

Status: Stopped

22:21 Here's the report from qualifying - we'll see you tomorrow for the Brazilian Grand Prix!

Brazilian Grand Prix: Max Verstappen puts Red Bull-Honda on pole

Red Bull-Honda's Max Verstappen claimed his second Formula 1 pole position in qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix

22:09

22:07 Hamilton: "Congrats to Max, a great lap by him. We seemed quite competitive in Q3 and then we seemed to lose or they gained. We've been down on power compared to the others, but gave it everything I had."

22:06 Vettel: "I had a bit of a wobble on the exit on the first run, but I think Max improved his time so fair play - it's his pole position. Let's see what we can do tomorrow."

22:05 Verstappen: "The car was really good, the track temperature was changing and we had to adjust a little bit for that, but the car was flying. Really happy with pole position."

22:03 That's Verstappen's second F1 pole. "Yes boys, that was really good" he says, adding "that's the best birthday present, isn't it Christian" he says to his team boss, who turns 46 today.

22:01 Q3 results: 1 Verstappen, 2 Vettel, 3 Hamilton, 4 Leclerc (will start 14th), 5 Bottas, 6 Albon, 7 Gasly, 8 Grosjean, 9 Raikkonen, 10 Magnussen.

22:01 Vettel and Leclerc are not so fast in the second sector, and Leclerc is overhauled by Hamilton as a result. But it's pole position for Max Verstappen and Red Bull.

22:00 Verstappen does improve to a 1m07.508s.

22:00 Albon doesn't improve and will be sixth on the grid.

22:00 Leclerc goes fastest of all in the first sector, but it's a matter of thousandths. The chequered flag is out.

21:58 Verstappen will be first on the road on the second runs relative to his Ferrari and Mercedes rivals.

21:55 Current order: 1 Verstappen; 2 Vettel, +0.008s; 3 Leclerc, +0.105s; 4 Hamilton, +0.238s; 5 Bottas, +0.251s; 6 Albon, +0.312s; 7 Grosjean, +1.861s; 8 Raikkonen, +2.036s; 9 Gasly, +2.045s; 10 Magnussen.

21:54 But now Verstappen, despite not setting any purple sectors, manages to edge out Vettel by 0.008s with a 1m07.623s.

21:53 Vettel sets an initial 1m07.631s to take provisional pole, leading Leclerc by a tenth and Hamilton by two tenths. Bottas is 0.013s down on Hamilton.

21:53 Leclerc, Vettel and Verstappen are all two tenths quicker than the Mercedes cars in the first sector, as was the case in the first two segments.

21:52 In the meantime, Grosjean heads Raikkonen and Gasly after the opening runs. No sign of Magnussen yet.

21:50 Hamilton and Bottas head out after a two-minute wait, followed by Vettel and Leclerc and then the two Red Bulls.

21:48 The green light is switched on for the 12-minute pole shoot-out. Let's go!

21:46 A bit of work being done to Gasly's front wing, presumably responding to the lower temperatures by dialling in more front-end grip.

21:43 "Lando, we are P11." "Sorry guys, just didn't put it together." Things you can say about your quali lap, and also your jigsaw puzzle.

21:42 Giovinazzi brought out the waved yellows, suffering a spin in sector two.

21:42 Renault hasn't delivered on the form it showed yesterday, and will take no further part in qualifying.

21:41 Advancing to Q3: 1 Verstappen, 2 Leclerc (will start on mediums), 3 Vettel, 4 Hamilton, 5 Albon, 6 Bottas, 7 Grosjean, 8 Gasly, 9 Magnussen, 10 Raikkonen.

21:41 Eliminated: 11 Norris, 12 Ricciardo, 13 Giovinazzi, 14 Hulkenberg, 15 Perez.

21:40 And neither will Norris! No Renault-powered cars in Q3 this time.

21:40 Hulkenberg comes across the start-finish line but is only 14th. Only seconds left until the chequered flag so he will not make Q3. Neither will Ricciardo in 12th.

21:39 Leclerc now ventures back out on softs, so he will have the opportunity to switch his starting compound here if he and Ferrari so desire.

21:36 The top six look pretty safe, as there's about half-a-second between sixth-placed Bottas and seventh-placed Grosjean.

21:34 Drop zone: 11 Norris, 12 Ricciardo, 13 Giovinazzi, 14 Perez, 15 Hulkenberg. Raikkonen is currently on course to make Q3 by 0.01s.

21:33 Vettel's first flying lap on softs is puzzling - it's some two tenths slower than Leclerc's medium effort, and was slower across the board. It's still enough to get him ahead of Hamilton.

21:32 Verstappen's just quarter of a second off of last year's pole time. It looks very beatable, doesn't it?

21:32 As it stands, Verstappen leads a medium-shot Leclerc by four tenths, Hamilton by six tenths, Albon by six tenths, Bottas by seven tenths. Vettel is now beginning his flying lap, on softs.

21:31 But Leclerc is quicker on mediums! And Verstappen is quicker still on softs, firing in a 1m07.503s that takes him more than half a second clear of the Mercedes pair.

21:31 Hamilton's first lap is a 1m08.088s. It's the fastest lap of the weekend and is a tenth and a half quicker than Bottas.

21:29