With a storm blowing across the Interlagos circuit for the Q3 segment of qualifying, teams knew that getting out on track early enough before the rain started was critical to secure a good grid slot.
But although Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were third and fourth in the queue at the end of the pitlane for the start of Q3, behind the two Aston Martins, they subsequently did not make the most of the opportunity to get their tyres into the right operating window.
As Aston Martin duo Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll pushed hard to get heat into their rubber on their out-laps, Hamilton and Russell took a more cautious approach.
Russell was even overtaken by eventual pole position man Max Verstappen on his way out of the pits, with the world champion knowing he needed to attack on the out-lap.
As Hamilton and Russell ended up fifth and sixth on the grid, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said Mercedes should have been more adaptive considering how conditions were dramatically changing.
“You see how marginal the differences are in terms of out-laps and temperatures, and I think we weren't adaptive enough,” Wolff told Sky Sports F1.
Source: Autosport