Key events
“We just see lots of standing water,” comes over the radio.
Ted Kravitz fears that the next band of rain is in. Things are getting worse, not better.
The safety car is going round, and it doesn’t look clever.
Brundle wondering how it will go if sunset approaches. We have a couple of hours to go but a crash might make life difficult. In 2024, qualifying had to be moved to the Sunday morning.
Ger Nugent asks: “How does that work, 3 drivers at the back of the grid – a coin toss?” Based on what has happened previously, in effect it is a mini-qualifying battle between them. Whoever does worst will be at the back, etc.
Rain is continuing. Bernie Collins trying to regain her status as the oracle, predicting it will get heavier soon too. We could be here a while.
Here’s Felipe Massa. After what happened to him at Interlagos in 2008, it’s a surprise he can raise a smile. Of course the battle over that season’s championship goes on; not because of Hamilton’s last-gasp recovery but the Crashgate events in Singapore.
And here are the constructors’:
1 Mercedes 🇩🇪 630pts
2 Ferrari 🇮🇹 504
3 Red Bull 🇦🇹 382
4 McLaren 🇬🇧 365
5 Racing Bulls 🇮🇹 108
6 Alpine 🇫🇷 69
7 Haas 🇺🇸 31
8 Audi 🇩🇪 27
9 Williams 🇬🇧 12
10 Aston Martin 🇬🇧 7
11 Cadillac 🇺🇸 0
While we wait, here are the driver standings:
1 Kimi Antonelli 🇮🇹 Mercedes 380pts
2 Max Verstappen 🇳🇱 Red Bull 261
3 Lewis Hamilton 🇬🇧 Ferrari 259
4 George Russell 🇬🇧 Mercedes 250
5 Charles Leclerc 🇲🇨 Ferrari 245
6 Lando Norris 🇬🇧 McLaren 221
7 Oscar Piastri 🇦🇺 McLaren 144
8 Isack Hadjar 🇫🇷 Red Bull 107
9 Liam Lawson 🇳🇿 Racing Bulls 83
10 Pierre Gasly 🇫🇷 Alpine 42
11 Arvid Lindblad 🇬🇧 Racing Bulls 38
12 Franco Colapinto 🇦🇷 Alpine 27
13 Oliver Bearman 🇬🇧 Haas 23
14 Nico Hülkenberg 🇩🇪 Audi 13
15 Gabriel Bortoleto 🇧🇷 Audi 10
16 Esteban Ocon 🇫🇷 Haas 7
17 Fernando Alonso 🇪🇸 Aston Martin 7
18 Carlos Sainz 🇪🇸 Williams 7
19 Alexander Albon 🇹🇭 Williams 5
20 Yuki Tsunoda 🇯🇵 Racing Bulls 1
21 Ryo Hirakawa 🇯🇵 Haas 1
Yet to score:
Lance Stroll 🇨🇦 Aston Martin
Valtteri Bottas 🇫🇮 Cadillac
Sergio Pérez 🇲🇽 Cadillac
The medical car is going round. Ted Kravitz explains that it has a higher clearance than the safety car, so can go round more easily.
Brundle explains the difficulty of driving on a resurfaced track, where new asphalt will ooze resin. The traditional wet line at Interlagos may not work, Croft says.
Should be about 10 more minutes of rain – but David Croft gets a storm warning on his phone. When the weather does stop, the medical car will assess conditions.
The drivers that went out are trying to get dry. Ollie Bearman noted for reversing in the pit lane …
Neither Hamilton nor Verstappen went out in the rain. Smart thinking, or not that bothered because of the penalties?
To be clear, here are the grid penalties as far as I know:
George Russell 5 places
Charles Leclerc 10 places
Lewis Hamilton Back of the grid
Max Verstappen Back of the grid
Sergio Pérez Back of the grid
They ran for 2min 23sec before it had to be called off. My faith in Bernie Collins is shattered, she was saying some time during Q2.
And it’s a red flag.
Cars crawling round. Antonelli says he is already aquaplaning.
Cars pulling out of the queue to change their boots.
Looks like everyone will have to go round on intermediates and change to wets, notably Mercedes.
The rain is here!
It sounds as if the rain will come sooner than previously expected. Most of the cars ready to go, as the start of Q1 could be the best time for running.
David Croft talks about the weather, which should be interesting tomorrow too.
Portentous musical countdown time.
Ted Kravitz talking through the pole chances of Antonelli, Russell and Norris in the upgraded McLaren.
Verstappen is going to be at the back of the grid too! Have had technical problems and somehow I missed that. Apologies.
Bernie Collins says Q3 is going to be “very, very interesting” given the incoming rain.
Isack Hadjar has been talking to Naomi Schiff about his love for Ayrton Senna, at the scene of one of the Brazilian great’s most famous wins, the 1991 Brazilian GP, stuck in sixth gear.
In other news, the São Paulo Grand Prix is here to stay, come rain or shine. A five-year extension has been agreed, guaranteeing a race there till 2035. Who can forget the 2007 and 2008 finales, with the title wins for Kimi Räikkönen and Hamilton? The latter had a remarkable late rain intervention that so nearly cost the Briton the first of his seven titles before the weather deteriorated in his favour.
Kravitz adds that Hamilton will take part in qualifying, despite being relegated to the back of the grid. Last week’s winner topped the times in FP3:
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen set the fastest time in final practice on Saturday for Formula One’s São Paulo Grand Prix, finishing ahead of Kimi Antonelli. The four-times champion clocked 1min 11.622sec, 0.025 faster than the 20-year-old Mercedes driver who had topped the second practice at Interlagos circuit on Friday.
Verstappen is set to start Sunday’s race from the back of the grid after collecting a penalty for an engine change, while Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc also face grid drops for taking new internal combustion engines.
McLaren’s Lando Norris, fastest in FP1, was third quickest on Saturday, 0.131 off the pace, with Mercedes’ George Russell fourth. Russell will take a five-place grid penalty, also for an engine change.
…
Brazilian Rafael Camara, making his season debut after replacing Esteban Ocon at Haas, finished the session 15th, ahead of his teammate Oliver Bearman. Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto, the other local driver, was 10th fastest. Reuters
Ted Kravitz standing in a wet pit lane, and more rain is expected to midway through qualifying.
How has free practice gone generally? Well, Antonelli was not resting on his laurels on Friday:
Kimi Antonelli set the pace in second practice for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix on Friday after McLaren’s Lando Norris was fastest in the opening session at Interlagos.
The Mercedes driver Antonelli topped the timesheets with a lap of 1min 10.763 seconds under dry but humid conditions, with Norris second, 0.253 slower, and Red Bull’s four-times world champion Max Verstappen third, 0.259 off the pace.
“There’s a bit of work to do, but overall feeling good and excited for tomorrow. I think we have a good chance,” the Italian said, referring to Saturday’s qualifying.
George Russell was fourth fastest for Mercedes despite a looming five-place grid penalty for taking a fresh engine, ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, while Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were sixth and seventh.
The 20-year-old Antonelli, who secured the world title with third place in Mexico last weekend, had ended the first session second fastest behind Norris after returning to action for the first time since clinching the championship.
“FP1 was a little bit of a surprise, a pleasant surprise,” said Norris. “FP2, I think we seemed to struggle a little bit more compared to the Mercedes, just two tenths off on every lap, basically. But relative to some of the others, I think we seem pretty good.” Reuters
Half an hour to go to qualifying, and it has not been a good day for Lewis Hamilton, who will start at the back of the grid tomorrow.
Today, in third practice, he had smoke coming out of his car. Hamilton and Charles Leclerc had already replaced their engines, leading to 10-place grid penalties, but as Reuters reported: “The 41-year-old Briton reported ‘strange’ engine vibrations and smoke in the cockpit over the radio before stopping.”
Ferrari then said: “Following today’s FP3 session, the power unit fitted to car #44 was removed for further checks. After completing our analysis, we have decided to replace the entire power unit. Lewis will take part in qualifying but will have to start tomorrow’s race from the back of the grid.”
Giles Richards, meanwhile, has been looking at how Ferrari will try to cope with having two wannabe championship contenders.
Preamble
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, F1 world champion at just 20 – has this special AKA done too much too young? You have to hope there is plenty more to come from the Italian, but if he needed a reminder of how much talent is around him on the grid he had only to look at the other men on the podium in Mexico City last weekend: the race winner, Max Verstappen, and the runner-up, Lewis Hamilton, have 11 world championships between them.
While Mercedes have won a majority of the races – Antonelli (nine) and George Russell (three) have stood on the top step 12 times out of 19 – Verstappen has won three of the past four races for Red Bull. McLaren have two victories from Lando Norris, the deposed world champion. And Ferrari have … one. More of that later.
Even as Antonelli got over the line in Mexico City, his Mercedes was one of four different marques in the top five places. What remains of 2026 can offer pointers for 2027, for teams and drivers.
So there are plenty of reasons to join me from 5.30pm GMT for the buildup to qualifying for what is now called the São Paulo Grand Prix. In the meantime, here’s Giles Richards look back at how Antonelli made history
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/live/2026/nov/07/sao-paulo-formula-one-grand-prix-qualifying-in-brazil-live
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