F1 | Brazilian GP: analysis of qualifying

While waiting to understand how the affair involving Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen will evolve due to an alleged irregularity on the rear wing of car number 44, qualifying revealed a one-sided challenge at the top. The English champion, in fact, managed to win another prize, placing himself in first place in qualifying, beating his rival for the title by more than four tenths.

“I'm very happy to be back in Brazil, it's my first pole after a long time,” declared the seven-time world champion -. “I want to thank the whole team who worked pushing hard, it was really hard to go from one race to the next. The hours they kept are crazy. But today was a great qualifying section, I'm very happy. Tomorrow we will have to serve the penalty but we will give everything. It's not easy to follow in this circuit, I think Max will be on pole and it will be difficult to catch him. But I will do my best to recover positions. We'll see how it goes tomorrow", then added Hamilton, who based his "pole", which pole won't be according to the statistics, on a higher top speed, as well as good mileage in the fast sections of the track. During post-qualifying checks, however, it emerged on Hamilton's car that the rear wing was not in order, as the DRS opening was wider than permitted. The latter, in fact, to be considered regular must be between a minimum of 10mm and a maximum of 85mm, while that of the English one exceeded this quota. For this reason the rear wing of his car was seized, waiting to have a definitive answer and understand Max Verstappen's role in the affair. In fact, the Dutchman was also involved, as he allegedly touched the number 44's car in Parc Fermé, violating the international regulations which prohibit such manoeuvres.

The Dutchman had managed to gain second position in qualifying, above all putting Bottas' other Mercedes behind him, an element to keep an eye on, given that Hamilton will still have to serve a five-position penalty in the race: "Clearly, having brought a new engine, they will have more power throughout the weekend. It's not a big surprise. I'm happy to be second, I have a great starting position. I would have liked to be closer, but sometimes you also have to be realistic and we didn't have more to squeeze out. In the Sprint Race I won't have many points to gain, I hope to do a good first lap and then we'll see. The most important thing will be Sunday's race. On Sunday it will be much hotter and this will also change the behavior of the car", explained the number 33, who finished ahead of Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez, both of whom struggled to get the most out of the car.

Opening the third row will be an excellent Pierre Gasly who, for the fourteenth time this season, was able to qualify inside the top six, finding a consistency that no other driver in the midfield has managed to beat until now . Just like last week in Mexico, the Frenchman once again showed off his skills on the flying lap, taking a fifth place full of ambitions and hopes to try to confirm both in the sprint qualifying and in Sunday's race. A performance that the AlphaTauri standard bearer himself did not hesitate to describe as one of his best of the season, but repeating it in the rest of the weekend will not be a simple task, especially bearing in mind that in the first free practice session, despite a good position in the standings, Pierre had not felt entirely at ease with the single-seater, especially with a greater quantity of fuel on board. The little time available to intervene on the set-up before the start of official practice has undoubtedly undermined what is the usual work process of a more traditional weekend, but the indications collected during the last free practice session on Saturday morning could however, prove fundamental to better understand the level of degradation and act accordingly. “I'm really very happy. The first free practices were quite complicated for me and I also struggled a bit in qualifying, but every time I got out on track I managed to improve, making the most of everything inside the cockpit. I managed to put together a good lap when it mattered most: I think it was a really incredible lap I did in Q3, so I'm really happy with it. It's truly incredible for us to have qualified right behind Mercedes and Red Bull: it's a delicate moment for the championship and the team has done a fantastic job. Of course, it's only Friday and we have another two pretty intense days ahead, but we are in the best possible condition,” Gasly said at the end of qualifying.

Thus the challenge between AlphaTauri and Ferrari arises again, separated by just forty-nine thousandths of a second in the standings but with the same ambitions for the rest of the weekend, namely to establish themselves as the best team behind the leading group. A Ferrari that, after having partially felt bitter in Mexico for a performance from which something more was expected overall, is looking for redemption in Brazil, while always keeping in mind the real objective, to finish ahead of the McLarens to gain fundamental points in the fight for third place in the constructors' championship. The long-distance duel between Sainz and Gasly once again provided interesting insights, in particular in the comparison between the two laps which earned them their respective best times in Q3. The interpretation of the first chicane was the element that in the first sector guaranteed a slight advantage to the Ferrari driver, not so much with regards to his entry, but rather the phase of entry and exit, in the most difficult point: managing to bring a few km/h more speed in turn three, the Spaniard had secured a small advantage and would then maintain it on the following straight too, arriving at the first photocell with a gap in favor of around fifty thousandths. The challenge in the second sector was equally hard-fought, where the Madrilenian was able to make the difference in the interpretation of turn seven, where with better partialization he was able to sustain a greater speed before the next braking section. A tangible advantage immediately, which could have been even more significant if the extension before the braking zone had been greater, but being a rather short stretch, this would have limited a possible loss in favor of Gasly, who from that point onwards it would impose its seal on the rest of the tour. In this sense, an important element concerns the interpretation of turn nine, where the two challengers had followed a totally different approach: a "V" line as far as Sainz was concerned, useful for favoring the traction phase and the relative exit in a area where the rear tires are put to the test, while Gasly had opted for a more internal trajectory, glued to the curb, which would have allowed him to cover less road. A choice that in overall terms had paid off for the Frenchman, putting him in a position to end the second half-time ahead, albeit by just a few thousandths. The third sector, however, is the one in which the AlphaTauri driver was able to put an end to the duel by best managing the traction phase in turn twelve, which is essential for launching onto the long straight that concludes the lap.

Beyond the missed fifth place, Sainz did not hide a hint of satisfaction for a feeling with the SF21 which continues to improve race after race, allowing him to push harder even on the flying lap, his Achilles' heel on several occasions during this season: “It was a positive qualifying. I feel that I am continuing to improve my driving style with this car and the feeling is now good on all types of tracks and in all conditions. I feel like my consistency in qualifying has also improved and we had a good demonstration of that today. The only downside is that AlphaTauri seems to have a little more pace, so the goal for tomorrow is to try to overtake Pierre Gasly and then chase the teams ahead. A clean race tomorrow is the key to having a good chance on Sunday, so we will make sure we are in the best position possible to maximize the weekend result", said the Spaniard, who in the sprint qualifying will try to take advantage of starting from the inner side of the grid to bring the attack to the first corner.

Charles Leclerc, seventh on the grid, was further behind and paid for an unclean lap at the end and the possibility of only having one attempt on new tires in Q3 due to the attempts canceled at the start of qualifying due to exceeding the track limits, a factor which had pushed to use two of the remaining new sets already in the first heat, unlike his closest opponents, who had only used one. During interviews, the Monegasque underlined that in the last attempt he had not been able to bring out the full potential of the car: “Tomorrow we will give our all in the last Sprint Qualifying of the season to maximize our potential. Starting from sixth and seventh position means we have done an excellent job as a team and, even if I expected something more from my performance, what is more important is that we left our direct rivals behind. Q3 was a little more difficult for me because I did the first attempt on used tyres, which certainly wasn't ideal, while in the second flying lap I wasn't able to get all the potential out of the car. There is still work to do and we will push to bring home the best in view of tomorrow and, above all, Sunday" explained Charles, whose time obtained in Q2 would have been almost enough to equal that of Sainz. Compared to his teammate, the Red number 16 was unable to be equally effective in interpreting the first chicane, as well as in the central sector, in particular in the complex of curves 7-8-9.

Leclerc was however able to keep his real rivals behind him to achieve his goal in the constructors' championship, namely the two McLarens, eighth and ninth respectively. An MCL35 that hadn't proven to be particularly fast in the morning, especially not having tried the soft in the first free practice session in order to leave an extra set available in view of qualifying, instead concentrating on using the medium. Compared to their Italian counterparts, the Woking team never really seemed to be fighting to gain a place on the third row, thanks to the time lost in the second sector and, more particularly, in the sequence following turn nine, where the Red was able to make the most of the traction phase and accumulate a small but substantial advantage which she would then maintain - and increase - also in the rest of the lap. A McLaren which therefore, at least on the flying lap, confirms that it still has something less in the slower and more tortuous corners of the track, as well as in the traction phases, although the good top speeds recorded on the sprints helped to minimally compensate for any losses . “I think we have to be satisfied with qualifying, because we struggled a bit this morning in FP1. After making some good improvements coming into qualifying, I felt much more confident in the car. We would have liked to be ahead of the Ferraris, but we have to take eighth and ninth position today because they were faster. We are in a good position to fight tomorrow,” Norris explained in interviews, underlining the greater competitiveness of his rivals on the clock. Sensations also confirmed by his teammate, Daniel Ricciardo, who did not hide the fact that after the morning's tests the sensations were not so positive, but that the greater grip provided by the softer compound, as well as the changes in terms of set-up despite the little time available helped to partially mask the initial limitations and close the gap from the upper midfield area. A fourth and fifth row which will still give him the opportunity to fight with his closest rivals, especially for a team that on several occasions during this season has demonstrated that it works more towards race direction than on the qualifying set-up. “It's only an eighth and a ninth place, but considering where we were this morning, we can be happy with this result. We hadn't run on the soft tires before, but it seemed to me that we didn't have much pace to show in qualifying. Then in qualifying I felt better with the soft and we managed to get both cars into Q3. I know it's towards the final part of the top ten, but the deficit is much smaller than we thought,” the Australian then added, commenting on the performance of the Woking team.

Concluding the top ten will be Fernando Alonso, returning in the last heat after having missed the appointment in Mexico and the United States, although on Texan soil he was still forced to start from the back due to the replacement of the Power Unit on his single-seater. After two weekends which, net of any sanctions, had not delivered an Alpine in great form, also leaving some doubts as to what could be the reasons for an unexpected drop in performance, the transalpine team immediately started the weekend in Sao Paulo well, proving capable of fighting for a place in the top ten. The sensations were positive and the advantage in terms of top speed guaranteed a good opportunity to overtake competitors such as Aston Martin and Tsunoda's other AlphaTauri. An advantage that was visible above all in the attack of the lap and in the final part of the lap, for a car that however suffered through the first chicane and the rapid entry of turn four and turn seven, where the gap from the teams in the upper midfield it was clearly felt. “Today was very close. I feel like we had a productive morning and the car was pretty good, it handled well. Qualifying also started sensibly, and we moved into Q2 quite comfortably. But then I think from Q2 I was doing very similar lap times and I think we found the limit. We wanted to be a little higher up and start on the clean side of the grid because the start could be crucial tomorrow. But let's see how our day will be, as it is Sprint qualifying after all and we have done quite well with them in the past. Tomorrow I will be aggressive as always and let's try to have fun", explained the Spaniard in interviews, underlining the role that sprint qualifying could have on the progress of the weekend which, both in Great Britain and in Italy, had seen him among the major protagonists. An opportunity that Esteban Ocon could also count on, out in Q2 by a few hundredths in favor of his teammate, who put together a cleaner and more effective lap.

Sebastian Vettel will start from twelfth place, struggling with an Aston Martin that on the flying lap did not give great satisfaction either to the German or to the other standard bearer of the English team, Lance Stroll, who even exited in Q1. “Unfortunately, we didn't have the pace to challenge the top ten today, but overall I think we had a relatively good qualifying session. I pushed hard from the start and, given that we have the sprint tomorrow, twelfth place is a reasonable position to start from. I hope that in race conditions we will be more competitive, so I feel quite optimistic tonight,” Vettel said in post-qualifying. Since free practice, the AMR21 has suffered a clear lack of top speed, both at the beginning of the lap and in the final part, in particular towards its closest rival in its class, the Alpine. A lack of speed which was clearly felt on the flying lap, while in the short simulations with more fuel on board it was reduced. This however added to the shortcomings in entering fast corners such as four and seven, while it performed better in the slower corners. It was even more complicated above all for the Canadian, who had to fight with balance problems which affected his performance from the first free practice session, in particular given the few opportunities to intervene on the set-up: the hope is that that during the race the team can get closer to its other rivals, decreasing the gap seen on the clock. Yuki Tsunoda and the two Alfa Romeos entered between the two AMR21s, with the Japanese paying the price above all for his lack of knowledge of the track before qualifying. The AlphaTauri driver, in fact, had only lapped on this track on the simulator, the little time available in FP1, even if he concentrated for a long time even on rather sustained runs to accumulate kilometres, limited his opportunity to understand I know his secrets, especially when attacking the curbs, one of the most difficult points for a rookie. Completing the line-up for the sprint race will be the two Williams and the two Haas. As for the Grove team, the most complicated aspect was making the tires work in the right range, struggling especially in the central sector, where there is a need for greater support from the tires in the traction and rotation phases in the slow corners: “Unfortunately, it didn't go well for us today. I couldn't get the tires to work and there was a bit of wind on the track, so it wasn't particularly favorable for us" – explained George Russell, underlining how his car may have also suffered from the wind, one of the points weak since the beginning of the season -. My ride was ok, but nothing special. It's only the second time in 19 races that we haven't made it into Q2, so we need to understand where we can find improvements. FP2 will be a better indication of our race pace, but I think Sprint qualifying will still be difficult for us tomorrow,” added the Englishman.