Lewis Hamilton puts F1 boss on the spot with “give us better tyres” plea

Lewis Hamilton has pleaded with F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali to provide “better tyres” after qualifying at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix was postponed due to wet weather.

Saturday’s regular qualifying has been moved to Sunday morning after a deluge of rain and thunderstorms hit the Interlagos circuit, leading to conditions which meant the session could not take place.

Domenicali was conducting an interview with F1 TV to apologise to the fans when he was interrupted by seven-time world champion Hamilton, who challenged the former Ferrari boss live on air.

“You should’ve sent us out, this is ridiculous, we should go out! I wanna go out,” a smiling Hamilton said.

“If you give us better wet tyres or blankets we'd be able to run in this! I’m putting you on the spot,” he added, laughing.

Domenicali said: “First of all let me reiterate that these fans are incredible.

“We cannot control the weather as you know and it’s a pity but the conditions are not safe to drive, it’s as simple as that. There is a problem of light also. So unfortunately that’s the situation we have to manage.”

Qualifying was due to start at 18:00 GMT (15:00 local) but was subject to nearly two hours of delays before officials opted to reschedule the session.

Explaining the decision, an FIA spokesperson said: “The decision was taken because of 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.”

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).