F1 Grand Prix qualifying results: Hamilton takes sprint pole in Brazil
Lewis Hamilton will start Saturday’s Brazilian Grand Prix sprint event on pole position after qualifying at Interlagos on Friday for the 19th round of the 2021 Formula 1 World Championship.
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W12
Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Hamilton will start the sprint qualifying stanza ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen and his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas after the one-hour qualifying session, which is split into three segments with five cars each being knocked out in Q1 and Q2 before the top-10 shootout of Q3.
The result of Saturday’s sprint race sets the grid for Sunday’s main event. The winner of the sprint will be awarded with the event’s pole position accolade. Hamilton will take a five-place penalty in Sunday's Grand Prix following an engine change.
Brazilian Grand Prix qualifying results: Hamilton on pole from Verstappen
Cla | Driver | Chassis | Time | Gap | km/h | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1'07.934 | 228.345 | ||
2 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1'08.372 | 0.438 | 226.882 | |
3 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1'08.469 | 0.535 | 226.560 | |
4 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 1'08.483 | 0.549 | 226.514 | |
5 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | 1'08.777 | 0.843 | 225.546 | |
6 | Carlos Sainz Jr | Ferrari | 1'08.826 | 0.892 | 225.385 | |
7 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1'08.960 | 1.026 | 224.947 | |
8 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1'08.980 | 1.046 | 224.882 | |
9 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | 1'09.039 | 1.105 | 224.690 | |
10 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine | 1'09.113 | 1.179 | 224.449 | |
11 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 1'09.189 | 1.255 | 224.203 | |
12 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin | 1'09.399 | 1.465 | 223.524 | |
13 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | 1'09.483 | 1.549 | 223.254 | |
14 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo | 1'09.503 | 1.569 | 223.190 | |
15 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | 1'10.227 | 2.293 | 220.889 | |
16 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 1'09.663 | 1.729 | 222.677 | |
17 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | 1'09.897 | 1.963 | 221.932 | |
18 | George Russell | Williams | 1'09.953 | 2.019 | 221.754 | |
19 | Mick Schumacher | Haas | 1'10.329 | 2.395 | 220.569 | |
20 | Nikita Mazepin | Haas | 1'10.589 | 2.655 | 219.756 | |
View full results |
What happened in Q1?
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr set the benchmark at 1m10.487, which was quickly beaten by AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly on 1m10.062s.
Verstappen unleashed a lap of 1m09.329s to go fastest, two tenths clear of McLaren’s Lando Norris, before Hamilton reset the bar at 1m08.824s. That was half a second clear of Verstappen, with Bottas jumping to third, just 0.05s off Verstappen.
Gasly then pipped Bottas, while Sainz went to P2, 0.222s off Hamilton’s best. Hamilton trimmed his time down to 1m08.733s with 5 minutes remaining, while Bottas improved to P2 as the chequered flag flew, albeit three tenths down, ahead of the Ferraris and Red Bulls.
Falling at the first hurdle were Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), the Williamses of Nicholas Latifi and George Russell (Latifi beating Russell in qualifying) and the Haases of Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin.
Brazilian Grand Prix Q1 results: Hamilton fastest from Bottas
Cla | Driver | Chassis | Laps | Time | Gap | Interval | km/h |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 9 | 1'08.733 | 225.690 | ||
2 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 9 | 1'09.040 | 0.307 | 0.307 | 224.687 |
3 | Carlos Sainz Jr | Ferrari | 7 | 1'09.046 | 0.313 | 0.006 | 224.667 |
4 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 10 | 1'09.155 | 0.422 | 0.109 | 224.313 |
5 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 10 | 1'09.172 | 0.439 | 0.017 | 224.258 |
6 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 5 | 1'09.329 | 0.596 | 0.157 | 223.750 |
7 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | 9 | 1'09.342 | 0.609 | 0.013 | 223.708 |
8 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | 6 | 1'09.347 | 0.614 | 0.005 | 223.692 |
9 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | 3 | 1'09.350 | 0.617 | 0.003 | 223.682 |
10 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 10 | 1'09.365 | 0.632 | 0.015 | 223.634 |
11 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | 10 | 1'09.374 | 0.641 | 0.009 | 223.605 |
12 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine | 7 | 1'09.391 | 0.658 | 0.017 | 223.550 |
13 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 8 | 1'09.430 | 0.697 | 0.039 | 223.425 |
14 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin | 9 | 1'09.451 | 0.718 | 0.021 | 223.357 |
15 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo | 9 | 1'09.598 | 0.865 | 0.147 | 222.885 |
16 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 9 | 1'09.663 | 0.930 | 0.065 | 222.677 |
17 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | 9 | 1'09.897 | 1.164 | 0.234 | 221.932 |
18 | George Russell | Williams | 10 | 1'09.953 | 1.220 | 0.056 | 221.754 |
19 | Mick Schumacher | Haas | 11 | 1'10.329 | 1.596 | 0.376 | 220.569 |
20 | Nikita Mazepin | Haas | 10 | 1'10.589 | 1.856 | 0.260 | 219.756 |
View full results |
What happened in Q2?
Hamilton set the initial pace at 1m08.659s but lost his time due to exceeding track limits, as Verstappen went quicker anyway on 1m08.567s. On his second lap on the same tyres, Hamilton went faster still with 1m08.386s, beating Verstappen by 0.181s.
On the final run, Hamilton improved his P1 time again to 1m08.068s, ahead of Bottas on 1m08.426s – three tenths down once again. Verstappen stayed third, 0.431s off the pace, but ahead of Leclerc, Gasly and Perez.
Knocked out at this point were Esteban Ocon (Alpine, just 0.052s off teammate Fernando Alonso), Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin), Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) and the Alfa Romeos of Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi.
Brazilian Grand Prix Grand Prix Q2 results: Hamilton fastest from Bottas
Cla | Driver | Chassis | Laps | Time | Gap | Interval | km/h |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 8 | 1'08.068 | 227.895 | ||
2 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 8 | 1'08.426 | 0.358 | 0.358 | 226.703 |
3 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 6 | 1'08.499 | 0.431 | 0.073 | 226.461 |
4 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 6 | 1'08.859 | 0.791 | 0.360 | 225.277 |
5 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | 6 | 1'08.903 | 0.835 | 0.044 | 225.133 |
6 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 6 | 1'08.973 | 0.905 | 0.070 | 224.905 |
7 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 6 | 1'09.030 | 0.962 | 0.057 | 224.719 |
8 | Carlos Sainz Jr | Ferrari | 6 | 1'09.031 | 0.963 | 0.001 | 224.716 |
9 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | 6 | 1'09.093 | 1.025 | 0.062 | 224.514 |
10 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine | 6 | 1'09.137 | 1.069 | 0.044 | 224.371 |
11 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 6 | 1'09.189 | 1.121 | 0.052 | 224.203 |
12 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin | 6 | 1'09.399 | 1.331 | 0.210 | 223.524 |
13 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | 6 | 1'09.483 | 1.415 | 0.084 | 223.254 |
14 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo | 6 | 1'09.503 | 1.435 | 0.020 | 223.190 |
15 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | 5 | 1'10.227 | 2.159 | 0.724 | 220.889 |
View full results |
What happened in Q3?
On the first run, Hamilton set the pace at 1m08.107s, to which Verstappen responded with a 1m08.372s for P2, 0.265s slower, and complained his front tyres were overheating from Turn 8. Bottas was his usual three tenths down on Hamilton, in P3 ahead of Perez, Gasly and Sainz.
On the final run, Verstappen didn’t improve but Hamilton did – Lewis setting a 1m07.934s for the fastest time of the day, 0.438s up on his title rival. Bottas failed to beat Verstappen for a spot on the front row, and was over half a second slower than Hamilton, with Perez taking fourth, just 0.014s off the second Mercedes.
Gasly will start the sprint in fifth, ahead of Sainz, Leclerc, Norris, Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren) and Alonso.
Brazilian Grand Prix Q3 results: Hamilton takes sprint pole
Cla | Driver | Chassis | Laps | Time | Gap | Interval | km/h |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 6 | 1'07.934 | 228.345 | ||
2 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 6 | 1'08.372 | 0.438 | 0.438 | 226.882 |
3 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 6 | 1'08.469 | 0.535 | 0.097 | 226.560 |
4 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 6 | 1'08.483 | 0.549 | 0.014 | 226.514 |
5 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | 6 | 1'08.777 | 0.843 | 0.294 | 225.546 |
6 | Carlos Sainz Jr | Ferrari | 6 | 1'08.826 | 0.892 | 0.049 | 225.385 |
7 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 6 | 1'08.960 | 1.026 | 0.134 | 224.947 |
8 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 6 | 1'08.980 | 1.046 | 0.020 | 224.882 |
9 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | 6 | 1'09.039 | 1.105 | 0.059 | 224.690 |
10 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine | 6 | 1'09.113 | 1.179 | 0.074 | 224.449 |
View full results |
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