The qualifying session for the Formula 1 Sao Paulo Grand Prix has been postponed due to heavy rainfall that descended on the Interlagos circuit on Saturday, Afrosport reports.
The session was expected to start at 7PM (West African Time) but thunder and lightning followed by heavy showers resulted in a delay of almost two hours.
Track onditions failed to improve sufficiently despite efforts to dry the surface with sweepers, which he forced racing governing body FIA to move the session to Sunday morning ahead of the main race.
“The Qualifying for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix is postponed,” read a statement on the F1 website.
“The decision was taken due to 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.
“A decision on a start time for Qualifying tomorrow morning will be taken as soon as possible.”
After heavy rain and standing water on the circuit, Qualifying for the São Paulo Grand Prix is postponed.
A decision on a start time for Qualifying tomorrow morning will follow.#F1 #BrazilGP
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 2, 2024
The previous time an F1 qualifying session was rescheduled for Sunday was at the 2019 Japanese Grand Prix which was due to Typhoon Hagibis.
More wet weather is forecast on Sunday in Sao Paulo and could cause more complications for the race.
