Arguably the best weekend of the entire Formula 1 Season properly kicked off with Friday “Night” Qualifying to set the Grid for Sunday’s Grand Prix.
Q1
In Qualifying 1; Yuki Tsunoda, Daniel Ricciardo, Valtteri Bottas, Logan Sargeant, and Zhou Guanyu were the five slowest drivers. After a great weekend in Mexico City, Alpha Tauri returned to form as both Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo were knocked out in Q1 (Ricciardo made a mistake which cost him dearly). Valtteri Bottas could only manage 18th for Alfa Romeo whilst Logan Sargeant had another disappointing session for Williams. Zhou Guanyu was the slowest driver in Qualifying which is never a good look. Mercedes’ George Russell topped Q1 by just under a tenth to Max Verstappen.
Q2
In Qualifying 2; Nico Hulkenberg, Esteban Ocon, Pierre Gasly, Kevin Magnussen, and Alex Albon all failed to make it into the Top 10 shootout. Nico Hulkenberg should be pretty happy with P11 whilst the same can not be said for the Alpine duo of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly. Amazingly, Ocon outqualified his teammate by just 5 thousandths of a second. Kevin Magnussen qualified 14th after a solid session whilst Alex Albon made an error that cost him dearly. McLaren’s Lando Norris topped Q2 by a tenth and a bit to Max Verstappen.
Q3
In Qualifying 3; Max Verstappen’s 1:10.727 was enough to take Pole Position as the heavens opened dramatically. Everyone went slower in Q3 than in previous sessions, but Max still got the lap in when it counted to comfortably take Pole Position ahead of Charles Leclerc who can be very happy with his day's work. As can Aston Martin as Lance Stroll brilliantly outqualified Fernando Alonso to lock out the second row for Aston Martin whilst Lewis Hamilton and George Russell qualified 5th and 6th respectively. Lando Norris will be disappointing with only Qualifying P7 and the same can be said about Carlos Sainz who could only manage 8th. Sergio Perez will start 9th after having his lap ruined by Yellow Flags that were caused by a spinning Oscar Piastri.
Starting Grid for the 2023 Sao Paulo Grand Prix and My Qualifying Grades
Max Verstappen: 10
Charles Leclerc: 10
Lance Stroll: 10
Fernando Alonso: 9
Lewis Hamilton: 7
Lando Norris: 5
Carlos Sainz: 4
George Russell: 6
Sergio Perez: 5
Oscar Piastri: 3
Nico Hulkenberg: 7
Kevin Magnussen: 5
Alex Albon: 3
Esteban Ocon: 4
Pierre Gasly: 3
Yuki Tsunoda: 3
Daniel Ricciardo: 2
Valtteri Bottas: 2
Logan Sargeant: 1
Zhou Guanyu: 1
My Predictions for the Brazilian Sprint Shootout
Max Verstappen
Lando Norris
Lewis Hamilton
Charles Leclerc
Oscar Piastri
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