Max Verstappen Storms To Pole Position Ahead Of The Brazilian Grand Prix.
Maximum Attack From Verstappen
Verstappen’s lap time of a 1:07.508 was enough to secure pole.
Max taking it to the MAX! ?#BrazilGP ?? #F1 pic.twitter.com/L27qiaFUmQ
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 16, 2019
The Dutchman’s performance makes him the first driver in a Honda to take pole position at Brazil since Senna in 1991.
Verstappen: “Straight away from Q1 the car was flying, that was an enjoyable drive. We are very happy with this, I’ll try to finish it off now.”
Vettel Pipped To Pole
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel missed out on pole by just a tenth of a second.
Vettel: “I had a small wobble on the exit of the final corner, and Max improved his time, it’s his pole, so fair play. I’m happy with a front row start, so we will see tomorrow.”
Behind the German will be newly crowned world champion Lewis Hamilton.
Hamilton: “We’ve been down on power compared to the others, that’s where we lost our time. But I gave it my absolute all, the track is very challenging.”
After a less than ideal banker lap, Hamilton’s final run in Q3 put him into third place.
Subsequently demoting Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc to fourth place.
However, the Monégasque will start the race from fourteenth place due to a 10 place grid drop.
A penalty which comes after Ferrari fitted a new Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) into his SF90 for this weekend.
Leclerc: “It won’t be an easy race and I will give the maximum to make up as many places as possible and hopefully fight for a podium.”
Valtteri Bottas, who won last time out in Austin, placed his Silver Arrow into fifth.
Alexander Albon, who was just announced to be partnering Verstappen in 2020, finished the session in sixth place, three-tenths off Verstappen.
Gasly Leads The Pack
Surprisingly it was Toro Rosso who led the midfield in qualifying, as Pierre Gasly secured a solid seventh place.
Although, it wasn’t all perfect for the italian outfit as Gasly’s teammate, Daniil Kvyat, failed to get out of Q1.
Haas found form in qualifying once again with Romain Grojsean taking eighth place.
Grojsean finishing just ahead of team-mate Kevin Magnussen who ended up tenth.
However, team principal Guenther Steiner acknowledged that they expect to fall back drastically on race pace.
A statement which has been the case throughout the year as the team attempt to solve their tyre issues.
It Kimi Raikkonen splitting the Haas duo after putting his Alfa Romeo into ninth position.
The Finn’s team-mate, Antonio Giovinazzi had been out pacing him for most pf the weekend.
Unfortunately, the Italian was unable to do it when it mattered, finishing the session in thirteenth.
McLaren Falter
As Carlos Sainz took to the circuit at the start of qualifying, the Spaniard was hit an engine issue.
An issue which ultimately denied Sainz a chance to set a lap, forcing him to start from the back.
Lando Norris in the other McLaren failed to make Q3, the Brit qualifying in eleventh place.
However it may play into is hands as Norris will be the first in the midfield with a free choice of starting tyre.
On top of this, the young rookie will move up to tenth on the grid once Leclerc’s penalty is applied.
The blow from their drop in form was also softened by its rivals Renault who too failed to get a car into the top ten.
The pair of Daniel Ricciardo & Nico Hulkenbrg ending up twelfth and fourteenth respectively.
