São Paulo Grand Prix: Sprint Qualifying Recap

SQ1 proved to be a tale of mixed fortunes for Bearman and Ocon – with Bearman progressing into SQ2 courtesy of a flying second lap on the mandatory Pirelli P Zero Yellow medium tire. The British rookie clocked a 1:10.066 to advance in his VF-25. Ocon’s first charging lap was a 1:10.877, which couldn’t be improved on his second run, seeing the Frenchman exit sprint qualifying in the opening session.

Bearman opted for two runs in SQ2 – again, the medium tire compound mandatory. The British rookie’s fastest time came on his first timed lap, a 1:09.946, placing him P15 at the checkered. Sprint pole went to McLaren’s Lando Norris who bested the field in SQ3 with a 1:09.243.

Ahead of Sprint qualifying, Friday’s sole practice session delivered P13 and P14 performances from Ocon and Bearman – both drivers working a run program consisting of hard and medium tire stints as the track rubbered in. Ocon delivered a 1:10.906 with Bearman banking a 1:10.961, both on the medium compound.

Ollie Bearman:

“My first lap in SQ2 was okay. I lost a bit of time at Turn 4, so going into my second lap I was actually quite confident because I had a really good feeling in the car. On my second lap, I lost a tenth and a half, and we know how tight the margins are around here, so it’s a shame. I think there’s a lot of potential in the car, so we just need to fine-tune things tomorrow.”

Esteban Ocon:

“I had the wrong track position for a lot of it. My first run wasn’t very clean, and there was traffic in places, but on my second run, I’ve never overtaken that many cars before – it must’ve been like 10 or 12. There is a lot more pace in the car, so it’s been a disappointing session, and we need to review. The weekend is far from over, though, so we’ll bounce back tomorrow.”

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal:

“That was a very disappointing Sprint Qualifying. After FP1, even though it didn’t look great on the timesheets, driver feedback was actually okay, but we knew SQ1 was going to be tight. We don’t quite understand what happened with Esteban’s second run, he had traffic from Turn 8 onwards, but he hadn’t made any improvement up to that point either.

“Ollie did a very good job in SQ1 to finish P6. In SQ2, his first lap – other than Turn 4 – would’ve been enough to get into SQ3, but sadly in Turn 4, he carried a bit too much speed and got on the kerb, losing two and a half tenths, which is a shame. I think the good thing is that the car seems to be able to get into the top 10 in terms of potential, so we can fight for points in the main race on Sunday. Starting P15 and P19 for the Sprint will be difficult, but with wet weather expected, there’s an opportunity as well.”