Friday, November 1, 2024, 8:50 p.m.
McLaren is far ahead of its rivals. Proof of this is that the starting grid for the sprint in Brazil is dominated by the two Woking drivers, with the irreverent Oscar Piastri ahead of Lando Norris, who this weekend wants to be smart and take advantage of Verstappen‘s problems.
With the Ferraris as possible candidates to challenge this dominance of the British team, as Leclerc is third and Sainz fifth for this Saturday’s start, the nightmare for Spanish fans comes from the green cars. Fernando Alonso, who is still reeling from his stomach problems, was unable to advance from SQ1, showing that the Aston Martin does not do well on a circuit like Interlagos, so different from the previous ones. The problem on the ground that, supposedly, was going to make them improve, has finally forced them to return to a previous specification, to the point that they have directly discarded the new version.
SQ1: A terrifying Aston Martin
For a sprint classification there is no room for speculation, especially not on a track like Brazil and even less so when it starts to sparkle. Although it was never dangerous, many engineers launched their drivers to do a good lap much earlier than expected, which put the action on the track in a frenetic state.
The equality between those at the top and the work of the pilots to make that equality the greatest virtue meant that many were left with little margin. Especially when the engineers began to receive notices that there were light drops of rain. Aston Martin’s bad feelings did not change. Already in free practice, despite the initial sensations, they realized that they had achieved a good time because they had little fuel, but when real fire hit they fell far short of the expected performance.
Thus, Alonso was left out in SQ1 after almost hitting the road, along with Ocon, Tsunoda, Stroll and Zhou. Rookies like Bearman, who replaced Magnussen, who was sick with his stomach, did manage to pass.
SQ2: Hamilton and Pérez, out
On a circuit like Interlagos, mistakes are costly. Thus, after a very tight SQ1, it was known that in the second half the greats were not going to be able to fail if they wanted to see themselves in SQ3 and fight for the ‘pseudopole’.
That’s why seeing two of the ‘morlacos’ in this round speaks worse about them than about the management of the technicians on the track. Lewis Hamilton, who so as not to lose habit pays homage to Senna this weekend, and Sergio Pérez, who once again made a fool of himself, did not make it to the final round of the ‘top 10’. If the Mercedes driver failed on his good lap and was left with no possibility of reversing the error, the Red Bull driver simply did not go well.
Unlike them, both Ferrari and McLaren entered their two cars in the final round, which made it clear who was going to compete for the best time of the day.
SQ3: Piastri wants a prize
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri initially seemed the strongest in SQ3. Although with three minutes remaining they were at the top of the time table, both Sainz and Leclerc warned that they were not going to settle for starting below the front row.
The Ferrari men fell short. Piastri, the only one who knows what it is to win a sprint this year other than Verstappen, showed both in his first attempt and in the second that his initial sensations were going to pay him off. With surprisingly competitive soft tires like the medium ones, the Australian improved on Lando Norris, who knew that his rival, Verstappen, was behind.
Leclerc fell short in his attempt to fight for the ‘top 2’, with Sainz fifth behind Verstappen, who will not be able to gamble much in a race that, despite everything, can take more away than give him. Taking into account that, in addition, in the long race he will start with a five-position penalty for replacing a part of his engine, it will be a weekend to minimize damage.
