Pirelli has made a special urgent request to the FIA. After free practice for the Formula 1 Grand Prix of São Paulo, the tire supplier asked if the track could be cleaned. Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso suffered punctures during the session earlier today. Qualifying has therefore been postponed.
The first and only free practice at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace was relatively quiet. Carlos Sainz was faster than anyone else ahead of Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc. Fewer qualifying runs were completed than expected, resulting in a surprising result. Behind George Russell who finished third, we found Nico Hülkenberg, Alexander Albon, Lance Stroll, Pierre Gasly, Zhou Guanyu, Logan Sargeant and Kevin Magnussen. The session went without yellow or red flags, but there were some problems here and there. For example, there was a touch between Hülkenberg and Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri had a broken mirror, Sargeant’s adjustment had to be drastically adjusted, and Hülkenberg suffered a loss of power after driving over the curbs in Turn 4. In addition, Alonso and Hamilton both ran. a flat tire.
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Qualification postponed
These flat tires were the result of the fact that there were bolts and screws on the track and especially in the pit lane. Esteban Ocon also reported to Alpine via the board radio that he had picked up a screw with one of his tires. Pirelli has therefore made a special, urgent request to the international motorsport association to thoroughly clean the Interlagos circuit. “We had a number of punctures due to debris and we also found some cracks in the rubber. Of course we informed the FIA to clean the track,” Pirelli boss Mario Isola told the media present in São Paulo. “I believe the problem is more in the pit lane than on the track, but we have to pay close attention because we had a number of punctures.” To ensure that the track is clean, qualifying has been postponed by fifteen minutes. The session that determines the starting grid for Sunday’s Grand Prix will therefore start at 7:15 PM Dutch time.
2023-11-03 17:55:52
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