Max starts from fourth at Interlagos: "I lost the rear"

Published on 12 November 2016 by Stefan Meens

Max Verstappen will start the Brazilian Grand Prix from fourth on the grid. Lewis Hamilton took his sixtieth pole position of his career ahead of Mercedes colleague Nico Rosberg. In a tight battle between the two Ferraris and Red Bull Racing, Kimi Raikkonen proved quickest of the quartet and qualified in third. The Finn was followed by Max, Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo.

“It’s a shame to miss out on P3 to Kimi”, said Max to Verstappen.nl. “In the first sector I was two tenths up but I lost the rear into turn eight. Also, in qualifying Mercedes up their engine power which means we loose a lot on the straights.”

Nevertheless, Max is still looking for improvements. “There were big differences between the sets of tyres so we have to look into that, but our long runs are looking good. Hopefully it rains tomorrow. First, let’s get through the first corner and then we’ll see what happens.”

Despite a 70% chance of rain, qualifying on the Sao Paolo based track is run under dry conditions. The biggest casualty in the early part of qualifying is Jenson Button who joins the regulars Pascal Wehrlein, Esteban Ocon, Felipe Nasr, Marcus Ericsson and Kevin Magnussen. Meanwhile, the Mercedes set the pace.

In Q2, Hamilton and Rosberg are again the front runners with the Ferraris and Red Bulls fighting for best of the rest. Valtteri Bottas, Esteban Gutierrez, Felipe Massa, Daniil Kvyat and Carlos Sainz do not make the cut, resulting in Fernando Alonso and Romain Grosjean being the positive surprises for the top ten shoot-out.

In the final part of qualifying, the top teams all opt for two runs. Hamilton opens with the fastest time, followed by Rosberg and Max. In the end, Hamilton holds on to pole, whilst his team mate will start alongside him on the front row of the grid. Kimi Raikkonen pipped Max, Vettel and Ricciardo to third, making it the first time in six races a Red Bull has not qualified in the top three.

Brazilian Grand Prix - Autódromo José Carlos Pace - Saturday 12 November

QUALIFYING RESULTS

01  Lewis Hamilton      Mercedes                    1:11.511 1:11.238 1:10.736 
02  Nico Rosberg        Mercedes                    1:11.815 1:11.373 1:10.838 
03  Kimi Raikkonen      Ferrari                     1:12.100 1:12.301 1:11.404 
04  Max Verstappen      Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer   1:11.957 1:11.834 1:11.485
05  Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari                     1:12.159 1:12.010 1:11.495 
06  Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer   1:12.409 1:12.047 1:11.540 
07  Romain Grosjean     Haas Ferrari                1:12.893 1:12.343 1:11.937 
08  Nico Hulkenberg     Force India Mercedes        1:12.428 1:12.360 1:12.104 
09  Sergio Perez        Force India Mercedes        1:12.684 1:12.331 1:12.165 
10  Fernando Alonso     McLaren Honda               1:12.700 1:12.312 1:12.266 
11  Valtteri Bottas     Williams Mercedes           1:12.680 1:12.420 
12  Esteban Gutierrez   Haas Ferrari                1:13.052 1:12.431 
13  Felipe Massa        Williams Mercedes           1:12.432 1:12.521 
14  Daniil Kvyat        Toro Rosso Ferrari          1:13.071 1:12.726 
15  Carlos Sainz        Toro Rosso Ferrari          1:12.950 1:12.920 
16  Jolyon Palmer       Renault                     1:13.259 1:13.258 
17  Jenson Button       McLaren Honda               1:13.276 
18  Kevin Magnussen     Renault                     1:13.410 
19  Pascal Wehrlein     MRT Mercedes                1:13.427 
20  Esteban Ocon        MRT Mercedes                1:13.432 
21  Marcus Ericsson     Sauber Ferrari              1:13.623 
22  Felipe Nasr         Sauber Ferrari              1:13.681  

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