F1 Sao Paulo GP qualifying postponed to Sunday after heavy storm
Heavy deluge and storm forces F1 Sao Paulo Grand Prix qualifying to be moved to Sunday.
Qualifying for the F1 Sao Paulo Grand Prix has been moved to a Sunday morning slot after a heavy storm forced the session to be postponed.
The hour-long regular qualifying had been slated to begin at 1500 local (1800 GMT) but thunder and lightning and a deluge of rain which hit the Interlagos circuit resulted in nearly two hours of delays.
Despite the best efforts of the circuit to dry the track with sweepers, conditions failed to improve sufficiently for qualifying to go ahead as planned on Saturday.
As such, F1’s governing body confirmed qualifying would instead be moved to Sunday morning, ahead of the main grand prix.
Qualifying is now set to take place at 10:30 GMT (07:30 local), with the grand prix starting at 15:30 GMT (12:30 local).
"The Qualifying for the São Paulo Grand Prix is postponed," an FIA statement read.
"The decision was taken due to the lack of visibility caused by the level of rain we have experienced in the past few hours. There is a lot of standing water on parts of the circuit which renders conditions unsafe.
"As much as we would all like to see competition on track, the safety of drivers, team members, volunteers, officials and spectators is our main priority."
The last time an F1 qualifying session was rescheduled to a Sunday morning was at the 2019 Japanese Grand Prix due to Typhoon Hagibis.
Wet weather is also forecast on Sunday in Sao Paulo, which could yet cause further complications.
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