The Danish Kevin Magnussen (Haas) was the big surprise this Friday in qualifying for the Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix, in São Paulo, by winning pole position, the first of his career, for the speed race.
Being the fastest on the Interlagos track, Magnusson denied the Dutchman Max Verstappen (Red Bull) what would be the 20th pole for the virtual world champion, great dominator of the season, for which he starts ahead, on Saturday, to the sprint race. , the third and last of the year, which will define the starting order of the Grand Prix on Sunday.
The Grand Prix format with speed races, inaugurated last season, has already been held this year in races in Emilia-Romana and Austria.
For the statistics, however, it remains the pole position and not the classification of Saturday, with Magnusson receiving the award, flanked by Verstappen and the Englishman George Russell (Mercedes).
Magnusson gambled on the third lap (Q3) on soft tyres, before it started to rain, and made up for the risk, completing the 4,309-meter track in 1,11,674 minutes.
With 203 thousandths of a second more was Verstappen and with 385 more Russell, whose performance was affected by an accident.
Saturday’s race will have the starting grid for Sunday’s, scheduled for 71 laps, in a total of 305.8 kilometers. With 24 laps, just over a third of what will be run on Sunday, Saturday’s race has the attraction of distributing points to the first eight – eight to one -, which add to the championship score.
“I don’t know what to say, the team put me in a perfect position, I did a good lap and we are on pole, it’s unbelievable,” said Magnussen, after taking the first pole position in Haas history.
Russell’s departure from the track delayed qualifying, which later, with the rain, did not change the already defined order.
Far behind the first three were the Mexican Sergio Pérez (Red Bull) and the Monegasque Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), the two drivers who ‘fight’ for second place in the championship, separated by just five points.
Source: TSF
