Brazilian Grand Prix qualifying postponed as wet weather pummels Interlagos

Qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix has been officially postponed after heavy rain hit Interlagos on Saturday afternoon.

The track and paddock areas were hit with significant thundery showers in Sao Paulo that first delayed the session, before the FIA took the decision to postpone the session on safety grounds – with a new time set to be arranged.

Brazilian Grand Prix qualifying postponed after heavy rain

The Sprint took place in dry conditions on Saturday, but the weather worsened at Interlagos to a degree that saw the later qualifying session delayed.

While this was initially delayed for an hour, conditions did not improve sufficiently to allow the drivers to participate in qualifying safely on Saturday.

Now, with not enough daylight to complete the session as planned, the FIA has confirmed that qualifying is officially postponed – note that does not mean the session is cancelled, leaving open the possibility of a Sunday session before the race, with official plans yet to be confirmed.

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“The Qualifying for the São Paulo Grand Prix is postponed,” the FIA said in a statement.

“The decision was taken due to the lack of visibility caused by the level of rain we have experienced in the past few hours. There is a lot of standing water on parts of the circuit which renders conditions unsafe.

“As much as we would all like to see competition on track, the safety of drivers, team members, volunteers, officials and spectators is our main priority.

“A decision on a start time for Qualifying tomorrow morning will be taken as soon as possible.”

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur had expressed his concerns when the weather hit, telling Sky Italy: “I think that we have to wake up quite early tomorrow morning for the quali.

“It’s heavy rain and I don’t know about the tarmac and if it’s raining properly, but we already have some lakes in some corners, it will be difficult.”

The earlier action had seen Lando Norris take Sprint victory ahead of McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri, with Max Verstappen getting a five-second penalty after going too fast under Virtual Safety Car conditions ahead of the restart on the final lap, dropping him to fourth place.

Once qualifying does take place, World Championship leader Verstappen will carry a five-place grid penalty into the race after taking a new power unit beyond his allocation for the season at Interlagos.

Read next: Explained: Why Max Verstappen can beat McLaren in Brazil despite grid penalty