Red Flag Drama Sees Surprise Kevin Magnussen Pole

Kevin Magnussen shocked the world of Formula 1 with his first-ever pole position after drama involving rain in qualifying.

The Brazillian Grand Prix returned this weekend, as the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season comes to a close. While all the talk was about the current world champion and the returning form of Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team, it was Magnussen that took the headlines.

Qualifying was set to be interesting with rain falling and with the session being a day earlier than it is on a normal weekend, with Brazil being the third and final sprint race of the season, and it certainly was an interesting one.

Q1 – Double Alfa Romeo Exit, Lando Norris Tops Session after Wet Drama.

Q1 was an action-packed session that saw the circuit go from wet to dry, with drivers increasing their times every lap. Fernando Alonso set the pace in the wet part of the session, with both Scuderia Ferrari drivers struggling for pace.

Pierre Gasly was the first driver to go onto the slick tyres and put his AlphaTauri on pole after showing incredible pace after a few laps on the new compound. A number of drivers went quickest but it McLaren F1 Team’s Lando Norris to finish top of the charts after the first session, with fellow Brit Lewis Hamilton in second.

It was heartbreak for Alfa Romeo, as they saw both Guaynu Zhou and Valtteri Bottas fall short of the required time to see them through to the second part of qualifying. The other causalities from Q1 were Nicholas Latifi and Yuki Tsunoda while it was more bad news for Mick Schumacher, who will start from the back of the grid tomorrow.

Q2 – Aston Martin’s Out, Lewis Hamilton Scrapes Through

It was another action-packed session in the Brazillian Grand Prix qualifying that saw a change of conditions throughout the session, with the track getting quicker towards the end.

Norris and Alonso were the early pacesetters with the pair both setting the quickest times. Mercedes, especially Hamilton, looked to be struggling for pace in the early part of the session, as were Ferrari, with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr. at risk of being knocked out.

As the track got faster, the drama increased as did the pace of the Ferrari with Sainz and Leclerc second and third respectively as the session came to a close. Russell was the next best driver in fourth behind the Ferrari’s and the World Champion Max Verstappen in first.

Sergio Perez and Hamilton scraped through in eighth and ninth, while the session saw both Aston Martin’s knocked out along with Daniel Ricciardo, Alex Albon and soon-to-be Alpine driver Gasly.

Q3 – George Russell Crash sees Surprise Kevin Magnussen Pole

The third part of qualifying saw an incredible turn of events, with Magnussen getting his first Formula 1 pole position.

Magnussen set the early pace in the qualifying with the track increasing in pace throughout the session, but with just under ten minutes to go the rain started to come back and get increasingly worse. As drivers were getting ready for their laps, Russell crashed into the gravel, beaching his car and bringing out a red flag.

The rain began to increase and fans started to believe that Haas F1 Team might just get their first pole position through Magnussen and that was the case after Perez got back out on track but only on Intermediate tyres, meaning he couldn’t beat the Danes time.

It was also a good result for Norris, who managed to qualify ahead of the Alpine cars and give himself a considerable advantage in the battle for fourth place in the Constructors Championship.

Credit: Steve Etherington