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00:00These could be the laps that count. We don't know, is the weather going to get any worse, is the weather going to hold off, is the track going to improve any more?
00:07The drivers have got to try and find a balance between pushing as hard as they can, and staying safe, and on the track itself.
00:13And it's a 1.31.6 for Lando Norris.
00:16This was Joe Guan Yu, we mentioned it at Goniello, and again, see, that snatching of the front left.
00:20Again, just cold grab, cold brakes, cold tyres, early in this session, and the drivers will all need to be aware of that.
00:29This is Lance Stroll, who had his moment, and found the grass.
00:32Now, this is tricky. This is like a beginner going ice skating, and, well, he's Canadian, Lance Stroll, he's very good on the ice.
00:39He's trying to pre-empt when the enters want to be good enough, but he looks a bit early.
00:43So, this is Lance Stroll going off once again.
00:46We've just seen Valtteri Bottas on the exit of Turn 5, the exit of Desido de Lago, go off the track.
00:52And that is very much George Russell holding up Carlos Sainz.
00:56And they almost touch as well.
00:58Now, whether the stewards take the conditions into consideration or not, when they're looking at a possible impeding, I'm not sure.
01:06Franco Colopinto has gone off for the Curva do Sol, and we've got a red flag.
01:11And this could be Colopinto touching the barriers then.
01:15I can't quite see from our commentary box where that Williams is, and I think he's going quite hard,
01:19because the medical car has been deployed, and there he is.
01:21Franco Colopinto has gone into the barriers.
01:25Now, the red flag is out.
01:27I can see Colopinto moving, and I'm hoping that he's absolutely okay, and he's radioed to the team to say he is.
01:34Let's just go on board with Franco Colopinto.
01:37You can feel the edginess.
01:38Yeah, but he's taking the wider line. That's okay, in a way.
01:41Let's listen.
01:42Yeah, just wheelspin.
01:44Just the rear right tyre was on, you know, it was like train tracks.
01:48You're going to stay within a train track.
01:50He took the wide line. That's okay.
01:52You can find grip there.
01:53Now, watch.
01:54Sorry, I'm late.
01:57There. The rear right tyre just got on the slightly wetter part.
02:02It was slightly outside the train tracks, and unfortunately, as he sort of said there, pure driver error.
02:07Here's George Russell leaving the pit lane.
02:11Dare say he really wants the cars in front to get on with it.
02:14That was Oli Behrmann, just in front of him.
02:16He's overtaken a couple of cars there, which is...
02:18Now, it's coming to war.
02:20Trying to put yourself at a risky position there, George.
02:24A little pivot slide there from Lewis Hamilton to straighten up the car out of Jun Sao.
02:29But he's right behind Alonso. Look at this.
02:30The visibility is going to be really tricky for him.
02:33Yeah, but it's a slipstream, though.
02:34Yeah, but in these conditions, Toffee, I'd rather see where I'm going.
02:38Well, there is that, but Lewis Hamilton could do this with his eyes shut.
02:42George Russell did it with his eyes shut for us in the studio.
02:45He's been here many, many times before.
02:46Hamilton goes 14th fastest.
02:48So, still not exactly putting a lot of distance between himself and the bottom five.
02:52Alex Albon goes 7th fastest.
02:54Here comes George Russell.
02:56George Russell is currently slowest of the 20 times we have.
03:00He's not having a good time with it, is he?
03:02He's... Oh!
03:04I'm not sure the stewards will be happy about that rejoin.
03:07Straight onto the racing line.
03:09Certainly, if I was Alex Albon, I wouldn't be happy about that.
03:11Hamilton's in that bottom five and Holkenberg's in that bottom five.
03:15Check your flag is out.
03:16And this has got to count for Lewis Hamilton.
03:18Is he going to get out of that bottom five
03:20and keep the Sao Paulo qualifying alive on this Sunday morning?
03:24Crosses the line, goes 14th fastest.
03:26And that pushes Lando Norris into the bottom five.
03:30Here comes Lando Norris, then, along the main straight.
03:33Gasly goes 4th fastest.
03:35Norris crosses the line, pushes Hamilton down to 15th,
03:38goes 14th fastest only.
03:40And make that 15th as Lawson goes into the safe places
03:45and Hamilton into the relegation zone and out of qualifying.
03:49Max Verstappen was a 46.8 in Q1, as Sainz does a 29.4,
03:55which is still slower than Verstappen's 28.5 from Q1.
03:58Yep, he does improve, though, from his fastest time,
04:01Carlos Sainz's fastest time in that Q1 session.
04:04Here comes Charles Leclerc a little bit quicker, 1.29.3.
04:07Carlos Sainz has come to a standstill by the side of the track
04:11as Russell goes 2nd fastest.
04:13Now we'll see the double-waved yellows,
04:15because Carlos Sainz's Ferrari's still there, and that's why.
04:18Because he's gone into the barriers, and that's Carlos Sainz
04:21out of this session on the fringes of Q3.
04:26And we've got our second red flag,
04:29and it's for the man who won seven days ago in Mexico.
04:33Right, here we go, climbing uphill towards the Senna.
04:37Braking in the middle of the road, looking for a bit of grip,
04:39then using a slightly wider line there.
04:43Listen in.
04:44Ah, just so slow as he's tried to pick the power up.
04:49He's just got on the throttle, and there it was.
04:54The team's going to be feverishly working out.
04:56He's got a yellow flag in Sector 1.
04:57Lance Stroll, Lance Stroll's gone off at Curva do Sol.
05:00And I wonder if this is another car into the barriers.
05:02We've got double-waved yellows for Lance Stroll down at Turn 3.
05:06Lando Norris goes fastest overall.
05:09Now encounters the yellow flags.
05:11So I wonder, was the yellow flag there
05:15when Max Verstappen started his lap time?
05:17Did he have to lift off for Sergio Perez the same?
05:19This is now unraveling for Red Bull here today.
05:22Now we've got a red flag!
05:24And now Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez are out of qualifying.
05:30And that's the reason why Lance Stroll,
05:32going off at the Curva do Sol,
05:34I think race control gave it as long as they could
05:37for people to complete their laps
05:39so that they weren't caught out by that.
05:41But in the end, the race director, Nils Vittic,
05:43had to throw that red flag
05:44because this Aston Martin was in a dangerous position.
05:47Okay, let's look at Stroll's incident
05:49before we talk about the implications here.
05:52Turns right, left, listen in.
05:56Same as Colopinto.
05:57Exactly the same as Colopinto there,
05:59but he went in forward into the barriers.
06:02So it was the rear right tyre again on that bit of water
06:06that caught him out.
06:07And wow, so I was just saying for Norris,
06:10a big weekend where he needs to capitalise
06:13on Verstappen's penalty.
06:14So far, so good.
06:16He's got himself out of the relegation zone.
06:18Red Bull are the ones who have tripped up there.
06:20For Oscar Piastri, and he goes fastest overall.
06:231.26.0 for the man.
06:25And by the way, two poles in the sprint qualifying
06:28never been on pole for a Grand Prix so far.
06:32Lando Norris next to cross the line,
06:34and he goes four tenths of a second faster.
06:36It's a provisional pole ahead of his teammates.
06:39We've got yellow flags being waved,
06:41a double yellow flag,
06:43and it's for Fernando Alonso at Mugulio.
06:45And it's a red flag as we watch Alex Albon
06:49and his excursion off the track.
06:51It's another Aston Martin into the barriers.
06:54It's Fernando Alonso this time around.
06:57And what a dramatic qualifying session
07:01this is becoming.
07:03Out of Bico de Paso, now Mugulio.
07:05The dive, you drop downhill really sharply,
07:07and then the car just gets away from him.
07:10Oh, that's gone in.
07:12It's gone in at a very bad angle.
07:16Yeah, so he's in fourth gear there
07:18when he ended up hitting the barrier.
07:19It just snapped on him.
07:20And it's another red flag,
07:22and that is why he's stationary.
07:24Alex Albon, who, if you remember,
07:26had a tangling with Kevin Magnussen at the start here,
07:30and made it to Turn 1,
07:32but not with all wheels attached,
07:34has had a big moment.
07:36And I'm glad he's saying he's okay,
07:38but that is a big, big crash
07:41for Alex Albon, who currently occupies Road 2.
07:44Let's take a look at this.
07:45So he's drifting up to the right-hand side of the track.
07:48Oh, he starts to lose it.
07:49The rear of the car, under brake,
07:51it's like he started to lock the rear,
07:53but he kept his hands on the wheel.
07:55Did the brakes fail?
07:56We're checking.
07:57Oh, Alex, are you okay?
07:59Yeah.
08:01We're checking on the brakes.
08:02So from outside, brakes look okay.
08:04You can still hear me.
08:05As Norris to the line he goes,
08:07provisional pole has been extended by Lando Norris.
08:11That 1.24.0 puts him in pole position
08:14by over half a second.
08:16Oskar Piastri now has it all to do on this final lap.
08:19And he's locked up!
08:20And that's Oskar Piastri's chance.
08:22He's gone, and he's done very well to avoid the barriers.
08:24Here then comes Liam Lawson,
08:264RB, back in that seat once again.
08:30Best qualifying tenth.
08:32He's on the front row!
08:33Wow!
08:34Liam Lawson, that is a sensational drive here in Interlagos.
08:40And once more, back in Formula 1,
08:42announcing his credentials as Yuki Tsunoda
08:45replaces him on the front row.
08:47And Lando Norris goes even faster
08:49through the middle sector.
08:51Ocon goes third fastest.
08:53George Russell, flying towards the line in his Mercedes.
08:57Where can he put this car?
08:58He's on the front row!
09:00Brilliant effort from George Russell
09:01with just one lap in Q3.