F1 ‘priority’ as cyclone heads towards Sao Paulo as championship fight intensifies

Michelle Foster
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Max Verstappen won a wet Brazilian GP in 2024

Max Verstappen won a wet Brazilian GP in 2024

As a cyclone hurtles towards Sao Paulo, with gusts of 107kph recorded by MetSul, Formula 1 is facing the very real prospect of Saturday’s running being a complete washout, the Sprint race and qualifying.

In which case, the sport’s bosses have been told the “priority” has to be getting qualifying and the grand prix run on Sunday, with the Sprint race falling by the way side.

Three events on Sunday in Sao Paulo?

Formula 1 is racing at the Interlagos circuit this weekend, a venue well known for its thrilling wet races. As recently as last season, Max Verstappen raced from 16th on the grid to first in arguably one of the sport’s best wet race performances ever.

This year, the winner may have to put in another epic performance as a storm of cyclone proportions hurtles towards the circuit.

In the early hours of Saturday morning, gusts up to 100kph were recorded in the capital of Brazil while Porto Alegre, 900km from the Interlagos circuit, was seeing flashes in the sky not from lightning but because the electrical grid was being hit by the intense wind gusts.

Metsul, a meteorology company operating throughout Brazil, forecasts the cyclone will hit Sao Paulo early Saturday morning.

It has cast doubt on whether there will be any running on Saturday with the Brazilian GP Sprint race scheduled for 11am, followed by qualifying at 3pm local time.

Nico Hulkenberg, who qualified P10 for the Sprint, says that’s the big question.

“I think obviously the forecast looks pretty wet at times,” said the Sauber driver. “I hope it’s runnable, that’s obviously always the question here.

“You know, if remember last year, which was obviously, yeah, too much rain, and then that’s also no good so let’s see what happens. Hopefully we can run and put on a good show for the fans here.”

Noting the German’s if “it’s runnable” comment, Sky F1 pit lane reporter Ted Kravitz pondered whether the Sprint race, qualifying and the grand prix could all be running on Sunday.

“The problem is last year,” he said, “we had the Sprint race and then qualifying on the Sunday – remember getting out of bed at 5am. If the weather is what we think it’s going to be, they are going to run out of time on Sunday morning because you might have to run the Sprint race, and the qualifying and the grand prix on one day.

“I’m not sure we can do that.”

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In which case guest pundit Jamie Chadwick says F1 has to prioritise qualifying and the grand prix over the Sprint.

“I think the priority has to be qualifying and the grand prix,” said the W Series winner. “The Sprint race, maybe. Hopefully it’s not an issue.

“The biggest thing here is even with normal rain, without it being excessive, the challenge is this track is super tough when its wet. Red flags, delays, all these other factors.

“I think either way it is going to be exciting but let’s hope maybe the weather isn’t as bad as we’re all expecting.”

However, losing eight points from the championship could have a major impact on the season’s outcome, most notably for Max Verstappen. Trailing championship leader Lando Norris by 36 points with, at things stand, 116 points still in play, Verstappen needs all the time and the points that he can get.

As for McLaren, in a championship fight that could be decided by a single point out of Norris and Oscar Piastri, Brazil’s Sprint could be a deciding factor. If, of course, it factors in at all.

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