F1 has turned its sprint race into a standalone Saturday event, with sprint qualifying deciding the starting grid followed by the sprint race later in the day. Here’s how the latest sprint race format changes will work.
During qualifying for Sunday’s grand prix, Max Verstappen grabbed pole position ahead of Charles Leclerc as Q3 was red-flagged by heavy rain late on.
The red flag has shaken up the order with Lance Stroll taking third place in front of Aston Martin team-mate Fernando Alonso, while it is an all-Mercedes third row with Lewis Hamilton in fifth and George Russell in sixth.
McLaren driver Lando Norris, who looked set to challenge for pole after topping the Q2 segment, was caught out by the weather and was "gutted" to only manage seventh ahead of former team-mate Carlos Sainz (Ferrari). Sergio Perez was the last out on track in Q3 and took ninth, only ahead of Oscar Piastri who spun off on his only lap before the red flag.
Sprint qualifying for the Brazilian GP starts at 11:00am local time (2:00pm GMT), using a shorter version of the traditional Q1, Q2 and Q3 knockout session format.
Date: Saturday 4 November 2023
Start time: 11:00am local time – 2:00pm GMT