03 November 2023 , 20:34
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Max Verstappen set up the mouth-watering prospect of a close-fought Brazilian Grand Prix as he reacted to securing pole-position.
But it was far from a straightforward qualifying session for the Dutchman. Q3 was ended early for all as a storm swept suddenly across the Sao Paulo circuit, plunging it into darkness as heavy rain and strong winds caused havoc.
It ended the session early, when Verstappen was already at the top of the timesheets. The Dutchman had put in a good lap early, before the winds began to pick up, and that Red Bull decision paid dividends.
So it was an 11th pole position of the year for Verstappen. Charles Leclerc is set to line up alongside him on Sunday, while Aston Martin also benefitted from going out on track early, Lance Stroll ending his qualifying hoodoo to go third quickest.
Red Bull have failed to win only one race this year and Verstappen will be the hot favourite on Sunday after qualifying on pole. But he predicted a close fight when asked about his chances after the session.
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"It seems that it's all very close so you can see that already in qualifying," he said. "I expect the same also in the race around here. There's always quite a lot of deg from the tyres, so it's all about that management and last year we didn't get that right but I think we will be better this year."
Verstappen said he and his F1 rivals were as surprised as the rest of us by how quickly the weather turned towards the end of qualifying. "We didn't know if it would hit but then it did hit," he added.
"This is insane weather. Charles and I were just discussing our laps, they felt terrible. I think the wind started to change and started to be very strong and we lost a lot of lap time because of it. But it was quite hectic in the last lap."
For Leclerc, it was an unprecedented turn of events. "I've never experienced that in my career," said the wide-eyed Monegasque as he watched the rain fall and the lightning flash. "The wind change was crazy.
"There was just absolutely no grip from sector two onwards, which was extremely confusing because you had no idea where the balance will be in the corner you will get into... It felt so bad that I was like, 'Okay, this is not good enough. I'm P10 for sure'. But luckily I wasn't and second place is good."