The heavy and unexpected rain that fell on Sao Paulo disrupted the plans for the Brazilian GP, preventing qualifying for the race from taking place. The single-seaters were supposed to take to the track at 3pm local time (7pm Italian time), but a downpour that arrived earlier than predicted by the weather forecast left everyone in the garage with their noses in the air.
Until, after a long wait, the race direction surrendered to the evidence of a new <a href="https://www.archysport.com/2022/04/how-does-a-sprint-race-in-formula-1-work-in-2022/" title="How does a sprint race in Formula 1 work in 2022?”>Interlagos asphalt with poor drainage capabilities, preferring to postpone the qualifications. With numerous and large puddles on the circuit, crossed by streams of water, the risk of aquaplaning was real and too high to accept. Also because, in the meantime, the light was fading as sunset approached and visibility was rapidly reducing. The FIA announced that “a decision on the start time for qualifying tomorrow morning will be taken as soon as possible”.
In the sprint there was a McLaren double, with victory for Lando Norris and second place for Oscar Piastri. Max Verstappen was also on the podium, but he was penalized 5″ for violating the virtual safety car regime and gave way to Charles Leclerc. The leader of the drivers’ world championship thus lost three points to his British pursuer. On the eve of the Brazilian GP his lead has dropped to 44 points and tomorrow there are 26 points up for grabs. To obtain his first victory in a sprint, Norris however had to count on the collaboration of Piastri: leading the race for a long time after starting from the pole, the Australian gave up the position two laps from the finish line, obeying the message he received from the garage.
“We talked about it before the race (…), this was the plan from the beginning”, assured Piastri. Norris thanked him, but said he was “not proud” of this decision because Piastri “deserved” the victory. “But we do what we have to do (…). I think we were clearly faster than the guys behind,” he also said at the end of this 24-lap race. Verstappen, who was later demoted as mentioned, had willingly accepted third place, after a “quite complicated” sprint, despite “the pace being good”. However, the Red Bull driver paid for the infringement committed under the virtual safety car, at the end of the race, after a mechanical problem on Nico Hulkenberg’s Haas.
Leclerc, third in the sprint ahead of Verstappen for a long time and overtaken at the end by the Dutchman, thus climbed onto the podium, even if only virtually. His teammate Carlos Sainz, winner in Mexico, finished fifth. George Russell (Mercedes) came sixth, ahead of Pierre Gasly (Alpine). Sergio Pérez (Red Bull) completed the Top 8. Tomorrow, rain permitting, GP qualifying at a time yet to be established. Verstappen will start, at best, sixth, due to the five-place penalty for having replaced the combustion engine of his Rd Bull beyond the permitted quotas. Sanction that did not apply in the sprint race.
