Brazilian GP qualifying red flagged almost immediately due to rain
Brazilian Grand Prix F1 2026 qualifying has been red flagged barely two minutes in for horrendous wet weather conditions.
Rain was always a possibility and was forecast for Saturday at Interlagos, but torrential rain even as the session got underway caught out a host of cars and forced Formula 1 stewards into action.
Eight cars: Kimi Antonelli's Mercedes, George Russell's Mercedes, Charles Leclerc's Ferrari, Isack Hadjar's Red Bull, the Alpines of Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto, Fernando Alonso's Aston Martin and the Cadillac of Valtteri Bottas all ventured out on intermediate tyres, but almost as soon as the cars hit the track it became clear that the conditions weren't driveable.
Replays showed Lando Norris almost crashing, and Antonelli and Hadjar both laughed at how ridiculous the conditions were, also expressing the need for waterproofs.
Gabriel Bortoleto summed up the mood: "When I get out, I need to change my clothes, I'm completely wet!"
Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton appeared to demonstrate their experience in F1 by not venturing out on track and remaining dry in the garage.
There's no confirmed restart time yet as rain continues to pummel the track. Nico Hulkenberg was told the rain would fall this heavily for at least 10 minutes, with that radio message coming at 1808 UK time.
The FIA released a statement confirming an expected 10 minutes of heavy rainfall and saying the medical car would be dispatched "to assess the level of standing water" once "conditions improve".
The safety car later emerged 35 minutes after what was the original qualifying start time. At the same time, drivers suited up again and returned to their cars, but shortly after the safety car’s two recon laps, the drivers exited their cars again as another rain band closed in.
