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THE ROAD TO
POLE
* Kevin Magnussen will start from pole position in tomorrow's F1 Sprint. The
Haas driver set the fastest time in Friday’s qualifying session on the soft
compound, setting a 1m11.674s, ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and George
Russel in the lead Mercedes by 0.203s. All the drivers finished on new C4s,
with the exception of Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez who attempted a final
lap, after the red flag, on intermediates.
* Particularly unstable weather conditions set the tone for the last sprint
qualifying of the season. The drivers went out in Q1 with Cinturato Green
intermediates due to rain that had fallen before the start of the session,
then moved on to the soft even before the end of Q1. Leclerc was the only
one to start Q3 on the intermediate compound, counting on the rain which did
not arrive immediately. The other drivers opted for dry tyres; Magnussen
managed to set the best time immediately before a red flag and the
subsequent failure to improve times, due to rain making the track wetter
than earlier in the session.
* The best times in the first Free Practice session were scored by the
drivers on soft tyres. Sergio Perez was the fastest aboard his Red Bull with
a 1m11.853s, ahead of Leclerc's Ferrari (+0.004s) and teammate Max
Verstappen. Most teams began the session on the hard compound, as the
session was held with partially cloudy skies overhead.
* The Pirelli Pole Position Award was presented to Kevin Magnussen by Felipe
Massa. The Brazilian driver, born in São Paulo, is still engaged in
competitive activity in the Stock Car Brazil championship. Massa, after a
storied F1 career that included stints with Sauber, Ferrari and Williams and
lasted almost 15 years, scored 11 victories. In 2008 it was here in
Interlagos that Massa came achingly close to scoring a world championship
title in a dramatic final. Facing off against Lewis Hamilton, Massa crossed
the finish line for first, only to be beaten to the title by a last-lap
overtake by Hamilton. Massa, currently one of the most influential
ambassadors of Formula 1, also boasts the status of the last Brazilian
driver to win a Grand Prix around Interlagos. It’s the first-ever pole
position for both Kevin Magnussen and his Haas team.
Simone Berra: Pirelli F1 Chief Engineer
"It was a complicated qualifying today at Interlagos, as the drivers had to
become familiar with track conditions very different from those experienced
earlier in the day during FP1. In fact, in free practice we had already
recorded a high rate of track evolution; the asphalt temperature was above
40°C in FP1 but dropped by around 20 degrees in qualifying when the drivers
had to tackle a wet track. The chosen compounds worked well in the different
conditions encountered today: even on a cold track, the soft tyre showed
good performance, with better times than in FP1 despite the less optimal
conditions. Although the free practice data is preliminary and must be
confirmed tomorrow, it seems that all three compounds can play an important
part in different race strategies.” |
