Formula 1 Hot News

F1: Magnussen wins ‘shock’ pole for Sao Paulo GP Sprint race

Posted by AR1 staff

With light rain making the track slightly slick, Kevin Magnussen turned the fastest lap on slick red Pirelli tires and after George Russell beached his Mercedes in the pea gravel the rain came down harder and his lap of 1m11.674s held up for pole for the Sao Paulo Sprint race – the first for the American Haas team as the crew and Magnussen were ecstatic.

Magnussen was out first at the start of Q3, he had clear air, he nailed his lap and has taken a well-deserved pole. And on merit too – Verstappen got a clean lap in, so did Russell, Norris, Sainz… But none of them could beat the flying Dane.

Kevin Magnussen on pole. “What position are we?” said Magnussen as the red flags come out. “You’re kidding,” was his swift response when told he was P1. “Don’t celebrate yet!!”

“I don’t know what to say,” said Magnussen. “The team put me out in the perfect position, did a pretty decent lap and we are on pole! It’s incredible, thank you. Maximum attack [tomorrow], let’s go for something funny.”

While Magnussen is on pole, his teammate Mick Schumacher was dead last as it looks more and more likely he will lose his Haas ride for next year.

Dead last Mick Schumacher (possible IndyCar material) and polesitter Kevin Magnussen, Haas F1 Team during the São Paulo GP at Autódromo José Carlos Pace on Friday November 11, 2022 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. (Photo by Andy Hone / LAT Images)

First American-owned team to win the pole since 1975 when Shadow did it.

Max Verstappen was 2nd quick for Red Bull, 0.203s behind. “We knew it was going to be that one lap because of the rain, I locked up into Turn 8 so that cost me pole today. In these conditions anything can happen, and we are still upfront, which is most important.”

2nd quick – Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (1) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB18 in the Pitlane during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Brazil at Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace on November 11, 2022 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool

George Russell was 3rd quick for Mercedes, 0.385s behind, before bringing out the red flag. “Happy to be P3 and massive congrats to Kevin, what an awesome job he did. Good place to be starting from, it’s our best shot of trying to finish ahead of Max [Verstappen] and Red Bull is in the mixed conditions.”

 

George Russell beaches his Mercedes in the pea gravel

Lando Norris was 4th for McLaren, ahead of Carlos Sainz Jr’s Ferrari in 5th and the Alpine of Esteban Ocon in 6th

“You’d be scared to dream about it,” said Haas team boss Guenther Steiner.

“The whole team are trying hard, and then the circumstances let us pull this off. It was not luck, Kevin put a lap in and it stuck. At the right time, he just put a perfect lap time when it counted. I think the other cars, they were only ten seconds behind us [on the road] but they couldn’t do it.”

Magnussen didn’t seem to have any words – understandably choked with emotion. His F1 career was over at the end of 2020, the team opting for a full driver line up change. He sat out last year, came back this season after a very late call up and now has a pole position to his name.

Magnussen will start from P1 tomorrow for the Sprint, but if he can survive the 24 laps only then will he be lining up first for the Grand Prix itself.

He needs to keep Verstappen at bay, who will have the slipstream to work with, along with Russell and Norris who will both be hoping for more rain.

It’s a mixed up grid then, with the lead Ferrari in P5 and the other Ferrari and Red Bull down in the lower reaches of the top 10. Hamilton is also down the order, with Alpine in roughly their usual spots and going to have to keep some quick cars at bay tomorrow.

Qualifying Results

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 20 Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari 1:13.954 1:11.410 1:11.674 26
2 1 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing Honda 1:13.625 1:10.881 1:11.877 23
3 63 George Russell Mercedes 1:14.427 1:11.318 1:12.059 24
4 4 Lando Norris Mclaren Mercedes 1:13.106 1:11.377 1:12.263 25
5 55 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:14.680 1:10.890 1:12.357 24
6 31 Esteban Ocon Alpine Renault 1:14.663 1:11.587 1:12.425 22
7 14 Fernando Alonso Alpine Renault 1:13.542 1:11.394 1:12.504 21
8 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:13.403 1:11.539 1:12.611 25
9 11 Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing Honda 1:13.613 1:11.456 1:15.601 26
10 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:14.486 1:10.950 – 25
11 23 Alexander Albon Williams Mercedes 1:14.324 1:11.631 – 21
12 10 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri Honda 1:14.371 1:11.675 – 24
13 5 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes 1:13.597 1:11.678 – 23
14 3 Daniel Ricciardo Mclaren Mercedes 1:14.931 1:12.140 – 21
15 18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes 1:14.398 1:12.210 – 24
16 6 Nicholas Latifi Williams Mercedes 1:15.095 – – 13
17 24 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo Ferrari 1:15.197 – – 12
18 77 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo Ferrari 1:15.486 – – 13
19 22 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri Honda 1:16.264 – – 12
20 47 Mick Schumacher Haas Ferrari 1:16.361 – – 12