During the free practice sessions of the Brazilian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen’s Red Bull was already able to appear at the top of the standings. But with competition from Mercedes and Ferrari, the Dutchman’s chances of securing pole position were diminished.
However, it is indeed him who is in pole position at Interlagos and will start ahead of Vettel’s Ferrari and Hamilton’s Mercedes.
With weather conditions rather mild compared to the previous day, the qualifying session was able to take place without any major incidents.
The only technical issue to report was experienced by Carlos Sainz Jr. after his warm-up lap. An engine problem forced him to stay in the pits for the remainder of Q1.
Kvyat (Toro Rosso), Stroll (Racing Point), and the two Williams are eliminated from Q1. During Q2, it was necessary to find tenths in each corner since only 3 tenths separated the 5 eliminated drivers.
The gaps were particularly small in Q3 as well since there are only 4 tenths from the first position to the 6th. The Ferraris starting before the last lap to be 2nd and 3rd are finally separated by Lewis Hamilton who managed to climb a position in the final lap.
Bottas (Mercedes) and Albon (Red Bull) close positions 5 and 6. Eight tenths further back, we find the first of the others in the person of Pierre Gasly in the Toro Rosso. In comparison, his teammate qualifies 16th.
Qualified in Q3, the Haas team showed strong potential in a single lap. Romain Grosjean is 8th and Kevin Magnussen 10th. It should be noted that with Charles Leclerc’s grid penalty, all these drivers will gain a position. Kimi Räikkönen in the Alfa Romeo is 9th.
Results of the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix Qualifying:
| N° | Driver | Team | Times Q1 | Times Q2 | Times Q3 | Laps |
1 | Verstappen | Aston Martin Red Bull Racing Tag Heuer | 1:08.242 | 1:07.503 | 1:07.508 | 12 |
2 | Vettel | Scuderia Ferrari | 1:08.556 | 1:08.050 | 1:07.631 | 15 |
3 | Hamilton | Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport | 1:08.614 | 1:08.088 | 1:07.699 | 16 |
4 | Leclerc | Scuderia Ferrari | 1:08.496 | 1:07.888 | 1:07.728 | 20 |
5 | Bottas | Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport | 1:08.545 | 1:08.232 | 1:07.874 | 17 |
6 | Albon | Aston Martin Red Bull Racing Tag Heuer | 1:08.503 | 1:08.117 | 1:07.935 | 14 |
7 | Gasly | Scuderia Toro Rosso | 1:08.909 | 1:08.770 | 1:09.837 | 22 |
8 | Grosjean | Haas F1 Team | 1:09.197 | 1:08.705 | 1:08.854 | 16 |
9 | Räikkönen | Alfa Romeo Sauber Ferrari | 1:09.276 | 1:08.858 | 1:08.984 | 20 |
10 | Magnussen | Haas F1 Team | 1:08.875 | 1:08.803 | 1:09.037 | 15 |
11 | Norris | McLaren Renault F1 Team | 1:08.891 | 1:08.868 | 13 | |
12 | Ricciardo | Renault F1 Team | 1:09.086 | 1:08.803 | 12 | |
13 | Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo Sauber Ferrari | 1:09.175 | 1:08.919 | 14 | |
14 | Hülkenberg | Renault F1 Team | 1:09.050 | 1:08.921 | 12 | |
15 | Perez | Racing Point Force India Mercedes | 1:09.288 | 1:09.035 | 14 | |
16 | Kvyat | Scuderia Toro Rosso | 1:09.320 | 10 | ||
17 | Stroll | Racing Point Force India Mercedes | 1:09.536 | 9 | ||
18 | Russell | Williams Racing | 1:10.126 | 9 | ||
19 | Kubica | Williams Racing | 1:10.624 | 9 | ||
20 | Sainz Jr. | McLaren Renault F1 Team | DNF | 2 |