Qualifying postponed after torrential rain in Sao Paulo

After thunder and lightning hit the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace ahead of the start of qualifying, Formula One has been forced to postpone the qualifying for the F1 Sao Paulo Grand Prix. F1Technical’s lead journalist Balazs Szabo reports on the postponed session.

Although the F1 Sao Paulo Sprint took place in nice weather conditions, it started raining very heavily about 45 minutes before qualifying was due to begin. With thunder and lightning around too, qualifying was delayed by 15-minute intervals.

Although the storm passed the Sao Paulo circuit, the rain has remained which has forced the sport to postpone the qualifying session.

The postponement of qualifying has happened most recently in Japan in 2019. It is still not clear whether the qualifying will take place tomorrow morning or the grid will be set using results from earlier this weekend.

The FIA noted: “The Qualifying for the São Paulo Grand Prix is postponed. 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. 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.”