© Getty Images2024 São Paulo Grand Prix - Friday ReportMax settles for P4, while Checo is knocked out in SQ2.
MaxVerstappenwillstartSaturday’sSprintRacefromthesecondrowofthegrid,ashecouldn’tbettertheMcLarens’ofOscarPiastriandLandoNorrisorFerrariDriverCharlesLeclerc.
On the other side of the garage, Sergio Pérez will start from P13 after not being able to complete a second push lap in SQ2.
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For the 2024 São Paulo Grand Prix, the track at Interlagos has been completely resurfaced, so the opening session was the chance for a lot of data gathering before the Sprint Shootout.
The Bulls started the only practice session of the weekend on the medium tyres, keen to learn if the racing line has changed due to the resurfacing—something Max will be particularly eager to find out as he faces a grid penalty on Sunday due to taking a new power unit for the race (his sixth of the season). Depending on the number of components, he could face a grid penalty of up to 10 places.
With a new chassis on his RB20, Checo was first on track out of the two drivers and set two push laps. His quickest lap was 1:12.099, putting him in P1 at that point, 0.177s ahead of George Russell, who had set the early pace.
Max’s opening stint saw him complete three push laps, his final lap being the fastest after he had returned to the pits for a front flap adjustment. His time of 1:11.712 saw him go into top position at that point. The Bulls then returned to the action for some high-fuel race pace laps, with Max completing 13 laps and Checo 10 on the same set of mediums as the earlier push laps.
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As the session timer ticked down, all teams decided to put on the red-rimmed soft tyres to prepare for the Sprint Shootout and times began to tumble. Checo went out on the softs first, and although he improved his time to 1:11.845, he wasn’t pushing as hard as possible and finished the session in P19.
Max went out but didn’t actually put in a lap time on his new softs, so his time on the medium saw him finish Free Practice in P15. Lando Norris was quickest with a time of 1:10.610, 1.102s quicker than Max’s time. Norris was followed by Russell, and Oliver Bearman—in for Kevin Magnussen—finished the session in third.
Each driver is allocated two sets of the hard tyre (which is the C3 for this weekend), four sets of the medium (C4), and six sets of the soft tyre (C5), and both cars decided to start on fresh mediums, which were mandated for SQ1 and SQ2.
Checo’s first time was a 1:11.162, placing him P1 at that moment, 0.358s faster than Esteban Ocon., with Max placing in P4 after his first run with a time of 1:10.590.
By the time all drivers had finished their opening push laps, Checo had dropped to P11 while Max had dropped to P5, showing how competitive this first session was looking to be.
Teams prepared for their second runs, and Max’s second push lap was 1:10.409, placing him P2 at that point, just 0.144s behind Piastri’s opener. Checo was a hair quicker with a 1:10.392, pushing him into P2 and Max into P3 before Charles Leclerc and Alex Albon jumped both Bulls as the session was ending, and Lando Norris topped everyone with a 1:09.477, pushing his teammate into P2. Alex Albon finished in third with Leclerc P4, Checo was fifth, and Max sixth.
Eliminated at the end of SQ1 was Guanyu Zhou in P20, then Lance Stroll, Yuki Tsunoda, Esteban Ocon, and Fernando Alonso.
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Each driver is allocated two sets of the hard tyre (which is the C3 for this weekend), four sets of the medium (C4), and six sets of the soft tyre (C5), and both cars decided to start on fresh mediums, which were mandated for SQ1 and SQ2.
Checo’s first time was a 1:11.162, placing him P1 at that moment, 0.358s faster than Esteban Ocon., with Max placing in P4 after his first run with a time of 1:10.590.
By the time all drivers had finished their opening push laps, Checo had dropped to P11 while Max had dropped to P5, showing how competitive this first session was looking to be.
Teams prepared for their second runs, and Max’s second push lap was 1:10.409, placing him P2 at that point, just 0.144s behind Piastri’s opener. Checo was a hair quicker with a 1:10.392, pushing him into P2 and Max into P3 before Charles Leclerc and Alex Albon jumped both Bulls as the session was ending, and Lando Norris topped everyone with a 1:09.477, pushing his teammate into P2. Alex Albon finished in third with Leclerc P4, Checo was fifth, and Max sixth.
Eliminated at the end of SQ1 was Guanyu Zhou in P20, then Lance Stroll, Yuki Tsunoda, Esteban Ocon, and Fernando Alonso.
The McLarens were quick to leave the garage at the start of SQ3 along with Alex Albon, while the other remaining drivers waited in their garage. Piastri set his time first, which was then beaten by Norris, who posted a 1:08.928, 0.298s quicker than his teammate and the first driver to break the 1:09 time barrier.
Norris’ time was the one to beat, and as everyone else went for just the one push lap, Piastri was going to go for a second.
Charles Leclerc set a 1:09.153, placing him P2, but then Piastri managed to eke out a fantastic lap on his old soft tyres, setting a time of 1:08.899 and putting him back on top. Max was the last to cross the finish line but was only able to stop the clock at 1:09.219, placing him P4 on the grid for tomorrow’s Sprit Race. Piastri took pole with Norris, ensuring a McLaren front row lockout. Leclerc in P3 will join Max on the second row, with Carlos Sainz in fifth, George Russell P6, Pierre Gasly P7, followed by VCARB’s Liam Lawson next to him. Alex Albon and Oliver Bearman make up the final two spots in the top ten.
