Max Verstappen Usurps With Pole Position Before Rain Halts Qualifying
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen received a stroke of luck when rain halted the qualifying session for this weekend’s 2023 Brazilian Grand Prix, handing him pole position when his car was fastest in neither preceding qualifying sessions.
After a 15 minute delay due to rain, Mercedes was fastest in the first qualifying session which saw George Russell go fastest and Alpha Tauri’s Daniel Ricciardo get eliminated.
McLaren’s Lando Norris was fastest in the second qualifying session which saw both Aston Martin cars advancing to the final session.
Rain had returned for the third and final session but nine of the 10 cars were able to put down a time for an initial lap – except for McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, who spun out on his attempted lap – and those initial laps turned out to be the only laps run for the session, which race officials red flagged at the 4:19 mark with rain beginning to pour down, putting a stop to proceedings and handing the gift pole position to Verstappen.
2023 Brazilian Grand Prix – Top 10 Qualifiers
1] Max Verstappen – Red Bull
2] Charles Leclerc – Ferrari
3] Lance Stroll – Aston Martin
4] Fernando Alonso – Aston Martin
5] Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes
6] George Russell – Mercedes
7] Lando Norris – McLaren
8] Sergio Perez – Red Bull
10] Oscar Piastri – McLaren