McLaren finished first and second in this morning’s Sprint race, the only Formula 1 track action today, as in the afternoon, heavy rain meant qualifying could not take place and it is now due to be held tomorrow morning*.
Over the 24 race laps, Lando Norris took the win ahead of Oscar Piastri, with Charles Leclerc inheriting third place from Max Verstappen, who was given a 5 second Virtual Safety Car-related penalty, dropping him to fourth.
THE DAY ON TRACK
The Sprint Race was run in the dry, with all drivers opting for the Medium compound and only Gasly (Alpine) and Lawson (Racing Bulls) going with a new set of the C4. The 24 laps were run at quite a fast pace which tested the tyres on a track surface where temperatures, while not reaching the very high figures seen in yesterday’s free practice, still exceeded the 40 °C mark. Thermal degradation on the Medium proved to be manageable, but at the same time it reached wear levels close to if not in excess of its limit. This meant that the drivers could push hard without seeing a significant drop in performance. Track conditions continued to improve with every passing lap and, as for graining, the front axle saw a reduction in this compared to yesterday’s free practice, while at the rear it remained stable.
MARIO ISOLA - PIRELLI DIRECTOR OF MOTORSPORT
“It’s such a shame that the rain meant qualifying could not take place and I feel very sorry for all the amazing spectators who packed the grandstands at Interlagos with their usual great enthusiasm. However, the track conditions were not safe enough to allow the cars to run, after which the visibility factor came into play. Postponing the session to tomorrow is the logical and sensible solution.
“The Sprint Race was very interesting, because even if there was not much overtaking, there were plenty of good battles, especially among the top four. All the drivers ran the Medium compound, as was widely forecast going into the event. Now, all the teams have a very useful reference point to help define the best possible strategy for the race, although there are other factors they must consider. The first and most obvious one is the weather, with the forecast currently predicting a higher chance of rain than today for the afternoon. The second is the possible effect of today’s rain on the new Interlagos track surface. There is the possibility that in the event of a dry race and/or qualifying, then grip conditions could reset to where they were initially.
“In terms of strategy, clearly we can only make predictions in the case of a dry race. From what we saw today, a two-stop is the most realistic option, both in terms of overall race time and the amount of tyre management required to complete it. In theory, the one stop, using Medium and Hard, could be attempted but we do not feel it is advisable given the wear levels we saw in the Sprint on the Medium. Clearly, the teams were able to make adjustments to limit wear but the data we have so far is equally clear and anyone going down that route would be taking an unnecessary step into the unknown.
“As I said earlier, the two-stop is preferable, using various combinations of Medium and Hard. Keep in mind that each driver has one new and one used set of C4 and two new sets of C3. The C5 could also come into play, for a possible final stint, especially if the temperatures are lower than yesterday’s.”
NOTE (Ndr): *Qualifying will take place at 10H30 (Portugal and UK hour) and the RACE will start at 15H30 (Portugal and UK hour) of SUNDAY.
