Quali recap: Charles second, Carlos eighth

The sky is overcast over Interlagos, the air temperature is 30 degrees and the track is at 40. Qualifying is delayed by 15 minutes while dirt and debris left by other categories is cleaned up.

Q1.  Carlos and Charles go out on used Soft tyres. The Monegasque posts a 1’11”653, the Spaniard a 1’11”651. They pit for new Softs with which Charles laps in 1’10”472 and Carlos does a 1’10”900. Leclerc now stays in the garage but Sainz takes another set of new Soft tyres to get down to 1’10”624 and they both make the cut to the next phase.

Q2. The skies darken, but still no rain. Charles and Carlos go out on used Soft tyres, setting times of 1’10”986 and 1’11”065, not safe enough to make the cut. So they try again on new Softs, the Spaniard getting down to 1’10”254 and the Monegasque stops the clocks in 1’10”346 but he fits another set to make the cut with a 1’10”303.

Q3. Charles and Carlos go out on new Soft tyres. The Monegasque laps in 1’11”021 to claim second place, but the Spaniard makes a mistake and has to settle for a 1’11”989. Finally the rain hits and the session is red flagged.