F1 Live | Sprint qualifying race for the 2021 Brazilian Grand Prix
Red Bull Content Pool
F1 News
- GPblog.com
It's time for the third and final sprint race of the 2021 Formula One season. Lewis Hamilton will start this race from first place, but Max Verstappen is next to him. Who will take pole position for the race?
Liveblog | Sprint qualifying for the São Paulo Grand Prix
The seven times world champion took pole position yesterday by driving a lap of 1:07.934. Verstappen had to settle for second on the grid, but he was actually pleased to reach the front row. For a while it looked like Valtteri Bottas would be alongside his teammate.
Battle for pole
In the sprint race, there's a free choice of tyres and the drivers don't have to make any pit stops. Because of Hamilton's five place grid penalty it seems to be likely that Verstappen will take pole.
Red Bull Racing seems to have lost their dominance since the first free practice, but they are hoping that Verstappen will finish the sprint race in first or second place so he can start the race from first place and make it more difficult for the Mercedes drivers. Mercedes will be wanting Valtteri Bottas to up his game and take positions off Verstappen for the main race.
Sprint race weekends
This is the third and final sprint race weekend of the 2021 season. They were introduced as a test, and it's worked relatively well. There are mixed reviews, but they will continue in 2021. We expect six sprint race weekends next year, but the circuits are still unknown. Previously, the sprint races were held at Silverstone and Monza.
Those two events saw title rivals Hamilton and Verstappen crash into each other.
At the British Grand Prix, the two drivers touched at high speed and Verstappen ended up going into the barrier. Hamilton went on to win his home event. The Dutchman required a precautionary hospital check-up but left the hospital on the same day. The second crash resulted in both drivers recording a DNF. Verstappen touched the kerb at turn one. His car launched in the air and landed on top of the Mercedes car.
Overall in 2021, Verstappen has a 19 point lead in the World Championship and is the favourite to extend that gap before the final three races. After Brazil, the Formula 1 circuit will travel to Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi to finish the season. Despite either being brand new to F1 or containing new alterations, those three circuits are expected to favour the Mercedes car.