Magnussen takes shock maiden F1 pole at Brazilian GP

Kevin Magnussen and Haas took an extraordinary pole position for Formula 1’s Brazilian Grand Prix sprint race in changeable weather at Interlagos.

Magnussen outpaced world champion Max Verstappen and the rest of the usual frontrunners in a straight fight on a slightly damp track at the start of Q3, having already impressed with seventh places in Q1 and Q2.

Then George Russell slewed his Mercedes into the Descida do Lago gravel and caused a red flag, during which the rain came down harder – cementing Magnussen’s astonishing pole.

🔴 RED FLAG 🔴

Russell beaches his car in the gravel#BrazilGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/J3dRCLzAuD

— Formula 1 (@F1) November 11, 2022

The Haas team was able to celebrate with time to spare as the clock ticked down and no one else even tried to run on slicks.

Verstappen was 0.203 seconds slower than Magnussen on the opening laps, while Russell’s first effort was good enough for third – so his incident made certain of that position.

Ferrari had another tactical disaster. It had already been in jeopardy in Q1 when both cars were heavily delayed in the pits as they changed from intermediates to slicks, but did make the cut with both cars at that point.

But it then sent Charles Leclerc out on intermediates for the start of Q3 when everyone else was on slicks just before the rain arrived.

He gave up on an off-the-pace lap and pitted just before the Russell red flag, so starts 10th. Team-mate Carlos Sainz qualified fifth, though he’ll take an engine change grid penalty for the grand prix itself.

Lando Norris recovered from his Thursday illness to qualify fourth for McLaren, with the Alpines of Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso sixth and seventh ahead of Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes.

Red Bull driver Sergio Perez got stuck behind the struggling Leclerc on what turned out to be the only worthwhile Q3 run and starts ninth.

Q1 and Q2 had been full of hints of upsets that never quite delivered, with Q1 becoming a rush to get laps in on slicks at the end after initial runs on intermediates and rain resuming during Q2, though everyone got quick laps in on slicks first.

Alex Albon starred with 11th for Williams, ahead of Pierre Gasly. Both Aston Martins were hampered by errors at the Senna S at the end of Q2, leaving Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll sandwiching Daniel Ricciardo in 13th and 15th.

Haas has a car at each end of the grid, with Mick Schumacher starting last having been one of the drivers who lost time to get up to speed on slicks in Q1 because they did an additional run on fresh intermediates first. Only Magnussen made that tactic work.

Nicholas Latifi, the two Alfa Romeos of Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas, and Yuki Tsunoda’s AlphaTauri joined Schumacher in exiting after Q1.

Qualifying Results