Qualifying Highlights | 2023 Sao Paulo Grand Prix

Daniel Ricciardo is in the drop zone along with Hülkenberg, Joe, Magnussen and Sargent. Sainz comes over the line and improves up to 6th. Just in behind Lando Norris who didn't feel brave enough to stay in the garage either. So everyone behind Albon has felt the need to get out there and try and improve. And that's because the times are coming in thick and fast now. Hülkenberg has done the fastest first sector. Sargent provisionally gets himself through into Q2 but there's going to be improvements behind, surely. So George Russell now in 14th position. The British driver who took his maiden Grand Prix victory here. His teammate has just gone into 4th position. Russell manages to go to the front of the field. So a much cleaner lap this time by Russell who immediately bails out because he's got the Alpine attacking behind. This is Hülkenberg on pole here back in 2010 for Williams. P3 for Haas at the moment. Daniel Ricciardo looking to try and make his way through. Alonso has just gone to 6th. Tsunoda is the driver on the brink. And will Daniel Ricciardo put in there? No, Daniel Ricciardo after the joy of Mexico City is out in the first part of qualifying. He missed out by six thousandths of a second. Tsunoda's got to try and improve because Ocon is the man that can beat him then. Here's Tsunoda to the line. Tsunoda goes over the line. Can he improve his time? No, he's vulnerable. Esteban Ocon has an opportunity and he is up by a tenth of a second. Esteban Ocon fights his way through to the next stage of qualifying. Look at the margins between making it through like Pierre Gasly and heading out in the first part of qualifying. Both Alfa Tauris missing out by half a tenth. Okay, 37, 36, 35 seconds to go. Everyone looking for an improvement. Not a personal best for Kevin Magnussen. Ocon as well. Not with what he needed. Over the line goes Magnussen. Only P13. This is Esteban Ocon. And Hülkenberg is out in 11th as well. He's just improved. Magnussen is out in 13th. Albon won't go back out of the pit. So it's just Gasly or Ocon to try and take this away from Stroll. Said it would be a big move. Stroll's still in the pits and he's going to be waiting this one out. And it's going to be Gasly or Stroll. Ocon can't get there. So it's over to Pierre Gasly. Hamilton improves up to sixth position. Lance Stroll gave himself a good effort with his first run. Now Stroll is looking over his shoulder at Pierre Gasly. Looking for the time. It's only 13th. He's behind his teammate. He's behind the Aston Martin. It's Hülkenberg, Ocon, Gasly, Magnussen and Albon who found themselves in the drop zone at the wrong time. No improvement found as well. Charles Leclerc across the line. Only to seventh fastest. Lance Stroll has made it into Q3 for the first time since the Dutch Grand Prix earlier in the year. Piastri no longer has to stress. And that is our top 10 shootout set for what is set to be a thrilling Q3. McLaren versus Red Bull. And Alonso suddenly has dialed himself back into some form. We're unexpected when? Seven minutes into the session. Okay. If you look at the clouds. If we gave you a still image, you would expect biblical rain any moment now. But it is bone dry at the start. And we're on board with the world champion. Chasing his 11th pole position of the season today. He's got a dry track at the start of the lap. Will he have to live on his mighty motor racing instincts towards the end? The teams have played it cool. 2.6 miles between one of these drivers. And pole position for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix. Fastest first sector for Verstappen. Then he had a lot of understeer through the first corner. Hamilton is nowhere in the first sector. Hamilton made a mistake at the Senna S. And that could be really costly. He's four tenths down on Verstappen on a day of small margins. That's a big one. Okay. Verstappen pushing on now. Looking to return to the front of the field. Verstappen was expecting pole position a week ago. We got a shock out of nowhere. A shock that even surprised Ferrari. Waiting, waiting, waiting to get on the power. And when he delivers it, it is a mighty stable car. In comparison to maybe, say, what we've seen from Oscar Piastri through those corners earlier in the weekend. The rain is expected in a few moments time. Everyone is building up to their push laps. But it has been a clean lap. It has been a tidy lap. It might be a pole position lap for Max Verstappen over the line into the darkness. But he's shining at the front of the field thanks to a 1.10.7. Does anyone have an answer to that at the moment? Well, the closest man is Oscar Piastri. He's just hundredths away in the first sector. Norris is very close to his teammate as well. But they've all dropping a little bit to Verstappen in the middle. We're on board with Charles Leclerc trying to make it a hat-trick of pole positions in a row. How close can he get? Well, he goes to the front row. But he is very nearly three-tenths of a second away. What can Lando Norris do? He's nowhere. He is absolutely nowhere on that lap. He's seventh fastest with rain imminent. Is there a moment now? Yellow flag is out in the third sector of the racetrack. Signs is only eighth and the rain is coming down. Off the road goes Oscar Piastri at the 12th turn. It's Verstappen, Leclerc, Lance Stroll in third place ahead of Fernando Alonso. Eight minutes to go is the rain at that part of the circuit. Well, let's see what Perez can do over the line. McLaren have not called this ride at all. Nor have Red Bull with Checo. They waited and they didn't get the payback. Those that went out at the front had the advantage. And McLaren, seventh. Tenth for Piastri who'd already lost a chunk in the middle. And now that could be it. This is Oscar Piastri heading in to Yungchao corner. No grip and lucky to keep it out of the barriers. Yeah, he did well to slow down. When you're on slick tires and the track gets slippery and you're committing like it's a qualifying lap, that is what happens. It's night. Yeah, great. Well, it's not. But the lights I've never seen. I've been watching Formula One around this circuit for years. Since 1998, I have never seen those lights on the pit straight of Interlagos. What is going on? We're joining Bahrain, Singapore, Jeddah. Interlagos has become a night race. Absolutely incredible pictures. I mean, I've already said it, but I think in my whole career, I've never experienced that. It felt like it was raining, but there's no rain around. This is super weird. The session is suspended. The session will not be resumed. And Max Verstappen, what a shot that was. There's going to be some amazing photographs of that red ball heading in to the all black sky. But it was an incredible lap to just deliver what you needed to. Charles Leclerc will be delighted. Happiest man, I think, in that top 10 will be Lance Stroll. His season's best in third place. Then Alonso, Hamilton, Russell, Norris, Sainz, Perez and Piastri, who spun at Yunchao Corner. But it's Max Verstappen once again in the wet, in the dry. Anything you throw at him, he's got an answer. And in his possession, an 11th pole position of the season.