F1 preview: A lap of the Brazilian Grand Prix
Max Verstappen is on pole for the Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday as the Red Bull star looks to make it 18 wins for the season, but the three-time world champion is far from happy in Sao Paulo after showing his dissatisfaction following his F1 Sprint race win.
The Dutchman eased to a fourth sprint race victory at Interlagos ahead of Lando Norris, with Sergio Perez recovering from a poor start to finish third. And he is primed to add another race win to his collection after surpassing 500 points in the Drivers’ Championship.
Mercedes’ impressive start saw Lewis Hamilton and George Russell fall way behind their rivals and it gives a bleak preview of what might be to come.
Last year, the Silver Arrows won the race with a 1-2 finish but they are still some way off Red Bull’s pace as they wait for their first victory of the season.
Follow the Brazilian Grand Prix with LIVE updates from Express Sport
Leclerc fumes after formation lap crash
In case you missed the start, Charles Leclerc did not start the race after a hydraulics issue caused him to crash into the barrier on his way to the grid.
The Monegasque was starting P2 behind Max Verstappen but his race was over before it even started after what appears to be some rotten luck.
The Ferrari man cursed his luck, venting: “Nooo, I lost the hydraulics. Why the f*** am I so unlucky?”
Red flag: Updated grid
Here is the current race order for when the race restarts.
1 Verstappen
2 Norris
3 Hamilton
4 Alonso
5 Stroll
6 Russell
7 Perez
8 Sainz
9 Ocon
10 Tsunoda
11 Gasly
12 Bottas
13 Zhou
14 Sargeant
15 Hulkenberg
16 Piastri
17 Ricciardo (may still retire)
OUT: Magnussen, Leclerc, Albon.
RED FLAG!
Race control have red-flagged the race with a huge amount of debris on the track after Albon and Magnussen’s coming together.
That’s good news for McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, who came into the pits with a broken front wing. They can now get to work on fixing that.
Looks like Daniel Ricciardio might be out of the race as well.
Lap 1: Safety car deployed
Absolute bedlam in Sao Paulo as Alex Albon and a Haas have collided.
The safety car has been deployed. And what a start from the two Britons – Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton are now P2 and P3 after passing the Aston Martins.
BREAKING! Leclerc crashes on formation lap
Charles Leclerc has crashed on the way to the grid!
Brazilian Grand Prix grid
Just minutes to go now until we’re underway in Sao Paulo.
Here’s a reminder of the grid.
1 Verstappen 2 Leclerc
3 Stroll 4 Alonso
5 Hamilton 6 Norris
7 Sainz 8 Russell
9 Perez 10 Piastri
11 Hulkenberg 12 Magnussen
13 Albon 14 Ocon
15 Gasly 16 Tsunoda
17 Ricciardo 18 Bottas
19 Sargeant 20 Zhou
Verstappen ‘fed up’ with F1 bosses
Max Verstappen has joked that he would like to replace Stefano Domenicali as the head of F1 after he was asked whether he would like more of a say in the rule changes that are affecting the sport.
The Dutchman was one of many frustrated with the new pit-lane exit rules introduced ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Asked whether he’d like more of a say in the rules, Verstappen replied: “I think it sometimes also they have too many rules that they have to take into account and too many politics as well to make a change or a decision, I think. I would like to, as GPDA, to have a say. I would like to be the owner of F1 if I could.
“But that’s not the real world. We keep expressing our concerns, but also what has been done correctly and we keep that dialogue, I’d say, open. We try to always make them listen and we listen as well. We try to communicate and we’ll see what comes out of it in the coming years.”
Hamilton downcast after sprint disappointment
Lewis Hamilton has admitted he is not hopeful of challenging for the win at the Brazilian Grand Prix after a ‘horrible’ day in the F1 sprint race.
Hamilton made his way up into fourth but fell back to seventh, even being passed by Yuki Tsunoda, after losing grip on the soft tyre. And the 38-year-old admits it is an unsolvable problem ahead of the race.
“It was horrible,” Hamilton told Sky Sports F1. “It was not enjoyable whatsoever. I had a good start and then after that just struggled with the balance.
“A lot of understeer, then snap oversteer, and I was just fighting the car from very early on. Then I had no tyres in the end. I don’t really know how I’m going to fix that for (the Grand Prix) tomorrow.”
Brundle involved in awkward gridwalk exchange
Martin Brundle has been involved in another strange encounter on the F1 grid before the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The F1 icon embarked on his traditional gridwalk and found himself talking to rapper Machine Gun Kelly.
After a very awkward chat between the two, MGK asked Brundle to do an air guitar – and the 64-year-old squirmed at the request.
Good evening!
Hello and welcome to Express Sport’s LIVE coverage of the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen is on pole and the Red Bull star will be hoping to make it a sprint and race double this weekend.
Can Lewis Hamilton or Charles Leclerc do anything about that?
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