Brazil – Qualification: Vettel dominates the rain and his rivals

As during the three free practice sessions held yesterday and this morning in Sao Paulo, the qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix begins in the rain with rather cool temperatures, 19°C on the track and the same in the air. The wind is quite strong as well, 4.5 m/s.

Q1: Even before the light turns green, there’s a bottleneck at the end of the pit lane with Lewis Hamilton leading the drivers looking to go out right away to take advantage of the best track conditions. Everyone is going out on intermediates. All the drivers want to set a time before the weather worsens and it rains even more.

Lewis Hamilton is the first to put his name on the timesheet, and the Briton registers the best performance on his first attempt, with no one managing to improve immediately afterward. Grosjean sets the 2nd fastest time but is quickly surpassed by Rosberg, Hülkenberg, di Resta, and Vettel, who records the 2nd fastest time behind Hamilton after the first round of runs.

While the track seems less fast and improvement is complicated, Hamilton is ahead of Vettel, Rosberg, Hülkenberg, di Resta, Button, Grosjean, Alonso, Webber, and Pérez after 10 minutes. Vergne, Gutiérrez, the two Caterhams, and Marussia are eliminated at this point of the session.

Gutiérrez, Ricciardo, Vergne, Bianchi, and Chilton still attempt a final push on track to improve their times as the rain seems to ease up with 5 minutes remaining in Q1. Maldonado and Kovalainen follow suit for coverage. Gutiérrez improves but remains in the elimination zone, Kovalainen also improves and ranks 5th. Vergne eventually improves and knocks out Maldonado, who does not improve and is eliminated along with Gutiérrez.

Eliminated in Q1: Maldonado, Gutiérrez, Pic, Van der Garde, Bianchi, and Chilton

Q2: The Mercedes are the first to position themselves at the end of the pit lane, Rosberg ahead of Hamilton. The German driver sets the fastest time ahead of his teammate and Fernando Alonso. But Sebastian Vettel has other plans and takes the lead, a tenth ahead of Rosberg after the first round of timed laps.

It is important for the drivers to stay on track in order to take advantage of any potential improvement in conditions. Webber sets the 3rd fastest time, but Hamilton takes it back a few seconds later. For the last 5 minutes of the session, the drivers put on new intermediates; Button, Bottas, Pérez, di Resta, Sutil, and Hülkenberg need to do better as they are outside the top 10. Meanwhile, Vettel improves his time by 66 thousandths of a second.

Hülkenberg improves and ranks 9th, Alonso takes 2nd position before Romain Grosjean sets the fastest time ahead of Sebastian Vettel two minutes before the end. While Jenson Button fails to set a time sufficient to be in the top 10 at the checkered flag, his teammate, Sergio Pérez hits a wall at turn 5 and gets away safely but his car is quite damaged. He is eliminated. No McLaren in Q3 then, while both Toro Rosso cars make it into the top 10.

**Eliminated in Q2:** Kovalainen, di Resta, Bottas, Pérez, Button and Sutil

Q3: While Sergio Pérez’s single-seater is being cleared, the race management announces a 10-minute delay to the start of Q3 to allow the weather conditions to improve slightly. While the drivers wait in their garages, the medical car is on the track to assess the track conditions. The race management eventually announces a second 10-minute delay followed by a third, then a fourth, and finally an additional five minutes before the start of Q3 – totaling a 45-minute delay.

Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel are the first to position themselves in front of the red light, on rain tires (with blue sidewalls) whereas in Q1 and Q2, intermediates were used. Daniel Ricciardo is behind the two men waiting for the green light. Once Q3 starts, all the drivers take to the track.

Vettel sets the fastest time ahead of Rosberg, Hamilton, Webber, Alonso, Vergne, Ricciardo, Hülkenberg, and Massa, while Romain Grosjean seemed faster than Vettel but the French driver decided to return to the pits to switch to intermediate tires without setting a timed lap. All the drivers follow the Lotus driver.

Grosjean does better than Vettel, but Webber improves the Frenchman’s time before Vettel takes back the provisional pole more than a second ahead of his Red Bull teammate. Vettel secures a new pole position, 7 tenths ahead of Rosberg and more than a second ahead of Alonso.

Then follow Webber, Hamilton, Grosjean, Ricciardo, Vergne, Massa, and Hülkenberg, who rounds out the top 10.

2013 Brazilian Grand Prix Qualifying Standings: