The Brazilian Grand Prix stewards will resolve decide the beginning order for Sunday’s race if qualifying can not go forward.
Saturday’s grand prix qualifying session has been postponed till Sunday morning resulting from heavy rain on the Interlagos observe. Nevertheless with one other extended downpour forecast on Sunday, there’s a risk the qualifying session can not happen earlier than the grand prix.
Components 1’s plan of action must be clearer if at the very least a part of the qualifying session is accomplished, as precedent exists for this. Unhealthy climate on the 2015 United States Grand Prix prevented Q3 from happening, so the occasions from Q1 and Q2 set the grid. F1 due to this fact doesn’t want to carry a whole qualifying session to set its grid.
If qualifying begins however is deserted earlier than drivers set any occasions, a mechanism exists for the stewards to make use of the occasions from first follow to resolve the grid. The sporting rules state that “drivers who’re unclassified” in the event that they “didn’t set a time in Q1” might be “allotted the highest positions in accordance with the order they have been categorized in [first practice].”
On the face of it, this specific case appears unlikely. Nevertheless observe that in first follow for the Canadian Grand Prix earlier this 12 months, a part of the session befell whereas the pit lane exit gentle was pink, that means no drivers may be part of the observe to participate. Due to this fact race management has an possibility open to them if they should declare a qualifying session has at the very least began with out sending drivers onto the observe in unsafe circumstances.
Components 1’s sporting rules don’t specify a plan of action if qualifying doesn’t happen. On the face of it, that is shocking, as a qualifying session has already taken place this weekend, for the dash race. Nevertheless there isn’t any provision within the guidelines for it to mechanically be used as a fallback within the occasion the grand prix qualifying session doesn’t occur.
An FIA spokesperson confirmed to RaceFans that, if qualifying can not go forward, the stewards will decide which methodology is used to find out the grid.
This is able to be a contentious resolution for them beneath any circumstances, and all of the extra so given the championship state of affairs. In the event that they select to make use of the dash race qualifying outcomes – absolutely essentially the most logical possibility – Lando Norris would line up second once more and Max Verstappen, after his five-place grid penalty, ninth. Utilizing the primary follow session to find out the grid wouldn’t go down effectively at Pink Bull as Norris was quickest and Verstappen fifteenth after abandoning his run on tender tyres, that means he would begin the grand prix from final place.
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2024 Brazilian Grand Prix
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