Qualifying for the São Paulo Grand Prix has been postponed. It remains to be confirmed what time the session will take place. The race is slated to start Sunday at 2 p.m. local time (12 p.m. ET and 5 p.m. UK).
The decision came after numerous delays as rain soaked the Autódromo José Carlos Pace (commonly known as Interlagos). At around 4:15 p.m. local time, the FIA reported that the rain was intensifying, and visibility was worsening. The window for qualifying to happen was rapidly closing, with the sun expected to set at 6:21 p.m. local time. The final call came nearly two hours after qualifying initially was supposed to start.
Sunday’s weather isn’t expected to be dry, either. The current forecast has a chance of rain both in the morning and afternoon. If qualifying cannot take place at all, the stewards will decide how the grid is set for the grand prix.
“The decision was taken due to the lack of visibility caused by the level of rain we have experienced in the past few hours. There is a lot of standing water on parts of the circuit which renders conditions unsafe,” the FIA said in a statement. “As much as we would all like to see competition on track, the safety of drivers, team members, volunteers, officials and spectators is our main priority.”
“A decision on a start time for Qualifying tomorrow morning will be taken as soon as possible.”
Speaking to F1 TV after the postponement, F1 president Stefano Domenicali confirmed the plan was to run qualifying on Sunday.
“The FIA is doing the final check on what could be the right timing to organize the quali, and follow up the plan to complete the day,” Domenicali said on F1 TV. “Because as you know, it’s a great event, and we need to make sure we can maximize everything in all the conditions that can be acceptable, of course.”
The track was resurfaced ahead of this weekend, creating plenty of unknowns for the drivers and teams. When asked about his confidence for the weekend after winning the sprint race, McLaren driver Lando Norris said, “If it rains, it’s anybody’s chance.”
This is not the first time qualifying has been moved to Sunday. More recently, F1 moved qualifying to Sunday as Japan braced for Super Typhoon Hagibis in 2019. A few years later, in 2021, rain threatened to move qualifying for the Russian GP, but it eventually let up. During the 2015 U.S. Grand Prix weekend, Austin was soaked by a heavy rain.
Though qualifying took place on Sunday, Q3 was canceled all together because of the rain persisting. Q2’s results created the starting grid for that race.
Top photo: Mark Thompson/Getty Images
