10/11/2018
NEWS STORY
While Max Verstappen was quickest in FP1, and Valtteri Bottas in FP2, it was Sebastian Vettel who set the pace this morning, the German posting a very, very impressive 1:07.948.
Lewis Hamilton was second quickest, 0.217s off the pace, with Valtteri Bottas a further 0.300s behind.
Both Red Bull drivers were over 0.7s off the pace, and despite the high altitude it is unlikely the Austrian team will be a threat this afternoon, certainly once the 'party modes' are brought in.
That said, in yesterday's sessions it was clear both Ferrari and Mercedes were experiencing blistering, something that didn't appear to effect Ricciardo or Verstappen, so perhaps the Bulls are thinking more about Sunday - when it really counts - than today.
Not for the first time, the midfield looks set for a shake-up, with Haas looking particularly strong here, along with Sauber. On the other hand, Renault has failed to impress thus far.
Despite having the latest spec (3) power unit at its disposal again, only Pierre Gasly appeared to benefit, while at Force India Sergio Perez had a difficult morning that left him at the bottom of the timesheets along with the McLarens.
Two drivers go into the session knowing they have grid penalties, which may in turn influence their approach, particularly in Q2. Ricciardo has a five-place penalty for an additional turbocharger, while Ocon also faces a 5-place drop for a change of gearbox.
Ahead of Q1, the air temperature is 23.4 degrees C, while the track temperature is 37.6 degrees. It is bright but there remains quite a lot of cloud. Indeed, in the moments before the start of the session, Race Control claims there is a 60% chance of rain at some point over the next hour.
Leclerc heads the queue at the end of the pitlane, the teams appearing to believe that the rain will arrive sooner rather than later. The Mercedes duo are among the first out.
"The rain is on its way, important to get lap one," Hamilton is told as he heads out of the pitlane. Raikkonen is advised of a tailwind in T4.
Leclerc posts 8.844, with Hamilton posting 8.464 moments later.
Raikkonen bangs in an 8.452 but Verstappen responds with an 8.205.
Stroll getting horribly out of shape, as Vettel posts 8.534 to go fourth.
Following his issue with a "dislodged oil breather pipe", it's worth noting that Hamilton's Mercedes continues to emit smoke.
Bottas can only manage seventh, the Finn posting 8.863.
A spin for Leclerc at T10 as Bottas complains of being blocked by a Haas in the final corner. Nonetheless, next time around the Finn improves to fifth with an 8.492.
"There is some drops," reports Magnussen, as Raikkonen confirms "we have some rain here but it is very light. That's more than you can say about the sky however, which is very dark.
With 10 minutes remaining, Perez, Hartley, Vandoorne, Sirotkin and Stroll comprise the drop zone, with Gasly, Ocon and Alonso hovering.
Alonso improves to 13th with a 9.453 but is demoted when Perez posts 9.217 to go tenth.
An 8.474 sees Magnussen go an impressive fifth.
Sirotkin improves to 13th with a 9.259. Stroll also improves, but only to 18th.
"OK, I've got no tyres left and it's raining," moans Grosjean.
Hulkenberg improves to 11th and Ocon 14th, as drivers report the rain is falling heavily at T4 and T12.
Hartley improves to 15th with a 9.280, however, he is demoted to the drop zone by his own teammate who posts 9.046 to go 12th.
With 2:10 remaining, Sainz, Alonso, Stroll and Vandoorne are all on track and seeking to improve, but the worsening conditions won't help their cause.
Sainz improves to 16th (9.269), but it is not enough, on the pit-wall Alan Permane shakes his head in frustration.
As the rain increases in intensity, albeit on only one part of the track, there are no further improvements.
"Enough or no," asks Alonso. "Sadly not," he is told.
"We are P17, Gasly is P12," Hartley is told. "That's annoying," replies the kiwi.
Quickest is Verstappen, ahead of Raikkonen, Vettel, Hamilton, Magnussen, Bottas, Ricciardo, Leclerc, Grosjean and Ericsson.
We lose Sainz, Hartley, Alonso, Stroll and Vandoorne.
Ahead of Q2, the Sauber pair are ready and waiting, Leclerc ahead of his Swedish teammate. "There are still a few drops around," the Monegasque is advised.
The lights go green, and in moments there are 14 cars on track, Sirotkin the last driver to emerge.
"We are expecting more rain in four minutes," Grosjean is advised.
At the end of his lap, Raikkonen pits and switches to softs. However, Vettel has been called to the weighbridge. He subsequently pits and also switches to softs.
Ericsson posts 8.579, but this is beaten by Ricciardo and then Verstappen, before Hamilton and Bottas (7.727) also go quicker.
"I can see the rain coming," says Hamilton, as the Ferrari pair seek to post their times on softs before it arrives.
Raikkonen goes fourth, 0.301s off Bottas' pace, with Vettel posting 7.776 moments later to go second. That's 0.049s off Bottas' pace.
The Bulls both switch to the yellow-banded rubber as a replay shows Hamilton and Sirotkin almost having a massive moment. A real heart in the mouth moment as the Mercedes veered into the path of the Russian.
Vettel warns of "heavy rain" at T13.
Though he's quickest in S2, Verstappen fails to improve on his previous best, having lost time in the damp final sector.
The cameras pick out Leclerc who is having a miserable time on his supersofts, the Sauber slipping and sliding all over the place.
The Mercedes pair have also headed out on the softs, but they soon realise that they are not going to improve. Clearly, for once, Ferrari got the jump on its rivals in terms of strategy.
As the rain increases in intensity, it's bad news for Hulkenberg, Ocon, Perez, Leclerc and Sirotkin, who look to have lost out, though there is still 4:50 remaining.
Gasly, Leclerc, Perez, Ocon and Hulkenberg head out in a late bid to improve, but as the Sauber driver admits: "It's raining too much."
That said, Vettel is on track on a set of supers.
Against all odd, Leclerc posts PBs in the two final sectors to go 8th (8.335), which dumps Magnussen into the drop zone, the Dane watching from the (dis)comfort of his garage.
"I'm happy this time," admits Leclerc.
Quickest is Bottas, ahead of Vettel, Hamilton, Verstappen, Raikkonen, Ricciardo, Grosjean, Leclerc, Ericsson and Gasly.
We lose Magnussen, Perez, Ocon, Hulkenberg and Sirotkin.
Excellent strategy from Ferrari and a mega-lap from Leclerc.
Check out our Saturday gallery from Interlagos, here.
Ahead of Q3, the FIA announces that Vettel is under investigation for an incident during Q2 when he was called to the weighbridge. Not only did the German refuse to switch his engine off, he is then alleged to have driven off and destroyed the scales. The on-board footage at the time, indicated that Vettel was not happy about being called to the weighbridge and the subsequent delay.
Meanwhile the Sauber pair are first out for Q3, followed by their rivals. Last out are the Bulls.
As it stands, both Hamilton and Vettel could be facing penalties.
Ericsson posts 8.432 and his teammate 8.492. Both are on supersofts, as are the rest, as the rain appears to have ceased.
Raikkonen goes quickest with a 7.456 but Vettel eclipses this with a 7.374.
Bottas posts 7.441 but Hamilton bangs in a 7.374 to take provisional pole.
Verstappen goes fifth (7.778) and Ricciardo sixth (7.780)
"That's a good balance," reports Hamilton, "let's try and get that again."
With 1:59 remaining, the big guns head out for the final assault. The Ferrari pair last out.
"I'm too close to these guys," says Hamilton of the Bulls up ahead.
Vettel goes quickest in S1 while Hamilton goes quickest in S2 up ahead. Bottas fails to improve and remains third.
Hamilton posts 7.281 to consolidate his top spot, while Vettel improves but it isn't enough.
Behind the big guns, Ericsson goes a very, very impressive seventh, ahead of his teammate, while Grosjean is ninth ahead of Gasly.
Asked about that incident, Vettel admits: "I think it's better that I don't say anything."
So, Hamilton is quickest, ahead of Vettel, Bottas, Raikkonen, Verstappen, Ricciardo, Ericsson, Leclerc, Grosjean and Gasly.
Magnussen is eleventh, ahead of Perez, Ocon, Hulkenberg, Sirotkin, Sainz, Hartley, Alonso, Stroll and Vandoorne.
"That was a tough qualifying session," says Hamilton. "Obviously the weather was going up and down and we didn't really know what to expect.
"Obviously Ferrari are incredibly quick this weekend a lot of work went on in the background with my engineers to make sure we got the car to be best place we could," he adds.
Asked what we can expect tomorrow, he replies: "I don't know, we'll see. You've seen how quick the Ferrari's are. I mean, they had a lot more blistering yesterday than we did on the supersoft tyre. I don't know if it's correct but we wanted to be on the soft and things kind of swung us the wrong way. Right or wrong we will see tomorrow but hopefully still, with the choice we have, I'll make the best of it.
"I think it was good fun," adds Vettel. "In the end I had a tiny lock-up in Turn 8. I got a good start to the second attempt in Q3 and I thought I'd go for it, but it was a little bit too much, so I lost some time and didn't improve. It was very close, so it was a fun session."
Asked about th scales incident, he says: "I think it's better if I don't say anything... They shouldn't call us, because when the conditions are changing like that I think it's unfair if somebody gets called in and yeah, I wanted them to hurry up."
Asked how difficult it is to read such conditions, he admits: "It's a difficult one. Inside the garage we don't really see much, you can't see out. You have to trust the laps you did before. You have to trust the communication you are having with the pit wall on the conditions, what you see other cars are doing. But when it's like this it can be anything, so I think in the end we all got lucky that we got more or less the same conditions for everyone, so as long as that's the case then it's fine.
"Not far away but here the margins are small," says Bottas. "I knew this weekend I did have the pace to be on pole. I think it was there for me to grab but I couldn't take it today. I was more than two tenths up in the second run but lost everything in the last corner on the back straight without any tow, so it was quite disappointing."
Asked, in such conditions, he keeps pushing or if there a bit of trepidation, he replies: "It really depends on the situation but once the rain really started to come down luckily we already had a good lap on the board, so there was no need to take risks. But sometimes you need to go for it and try."
Check out our Saturday gallery from Interlagos, here.