Formula 1 News: Heavy rain postpones Sao Paulo GP Qualifying

Torrential rain that created rivers of water running across the Interlagos Circuit, has forced the FIA to postpone qualifying for the Sao Paulo Brazil GP until Sunday morning.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

Weather permitting.

Precipitation starts at 60% in the morning and increases gradually to 90% at 1:00pm local time and will only goes to 80% at 2:00pm local time and then increases back to 90% until night.

A decision on a start time for qualifying tomorrow morning will be made soon.

FIA: Statement: Qualifying for the São Paulo Grand Prix is postponed. The decision was taken due to the lack of visibility caused by the level of rain we have experienced in past few hours. There is a lot of standing water on parts of the circuit which renders conditions unsafe.

Earlier today Lando Norris was gifted the Sprint Race Victory and the FIA did everything they could to hurt Max Verstappen’s Championship chances.

The FIA claims to always put safety first, but not in 2024, and especially not in Sao Paulo Saturday.

Below you see Hulkenberg walking alongside the track, already out of the car for a while, and still no (Virtual) Safety Car.

Safety is being traded here for McLaren’s interests. If they threw the VSC when they should have, Norris would have finished 2nd behind Oscar Piastri, but they waited until Piastri let Norris pass into the lead to throw the VSC just when Verstappen was setting up Piastri for a pass for 2nd.

Due to the weather, Lewis Hamilton’s tribute run for Senna in the Brazilian’s 1990 title-winning car will probably not take place today at the Sao Paulo Interlagos circuit. The organization is still evaluating the situation.