Sao Paulo Grand Prix Qualifying Postponed to Sunday

After almost two hours of delays, the decision has been made to postpone Formula 1 qualifying until Sunday (Nov. 3) morning.

Rain belted the famed Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace in Sao Paulo, Brazil, throughout the afternoon, making the track too wet for cars to go around at full speed.

“The Qualifying for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix is postponed,” an FIA statement said. “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.”

Before the 2 p.m. ET start time, the FIA delayed qualifying to 2:15, then to 2:30, followed by 2:45, and so on and so forth.

At 3:45 p.m. the FIA finally decided to simply postpone qualifying instead of continuing on with delays.

With sundown coming about 90 minutes afterward, a firm decision had to be made on whether to have qualifying on Saturday; the FIA decided against it.

“We cannot control the weather, as you know,” F1 president Stefano Domenicalli told Will Buxton during F1 TV’s coverage of the delay.

“It’s a pity. But the conditions are not safe to drive. Simple as that. And there’s a problem also with light that will very soon hit the track. So, unfortunately, that’s the situation.”

Lewis Hamilton then arrived on the scene, following up on Domenicalli’s words.

“If you give us better wet tires and blankets, we’ll be able to run in this,” the seven-time World Champion mentioned before going in for a handshake and a hug while playfully admitting he was putting Domenicalli on the spot.

Instead, the FIA has decided to hold qualifying Sunday morning. The start time of that session has not been decided yet, however, the sporting code specifically states that all on-track activity for F1 cars must be finished within four hours of the start of the Grand Prix.

With that in mind, the start time of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix is scheduled for 12 p.m. ET. Coverage will be provided by ABC.