Mercedes

Russell often goes well in the wet, and he was regularly popping into the top spot throughout all three segments of Qualifying. Come Q3 when the inters went on, he grabbed provisional pole on the first round of laps, but then Norris went faster. Russell aborted his second timed run after picking up traffic – and then as the rain intensified, he realised his chance had gone. That left the Briton very frustrated, but with a grid penalty, he starts seventh anyway.

As for the new World Champion, he was in the mix up front but could not quite match his team mate in the wet. But thanks to Russell’s penalty, Antonelli will start from second tomorrow.

Kimi Antonelli, 3rd, 1:28.095

“That was a tricky qualifying session but also good fun. It was my first wet qualifying in Formula One, so I was learning a lot and trying to understand the grip and the lines as the conditions changed. I was probably a little too cautious at times and then made two big mistakes on my final lap in Q3, which was a shame as there was definitely more performance there.

“Starting P2 tomorrow still puts us in a really good position though. I’ve felt very good with the car all weekend, particularly in the dry, and I learned a lot today that will help if we have similar conditions in the race. Whether it is wet or dry, I think we have a good chance, and we’ll be going for the win. We want to clinch the Constructors’ Championship and hopefully we can do so with a strong team result.”

George Russell, 2nd, 1:27.674

“Obviously I’m disappointed with how qualifying ended today. We definitely had the pace to take pole position, and in a tricky situation we weren’t able to achieve that. Given the circumstances of last weekend, it would have meant a lot to take pole here. We missed pole by nine milliseconds last week when we didn’t really expect to be in that position, whereas today the car felt strong and I felt like I was putting together laps that were capable of being right at the front.

“We collectively made a misjudgement at the end and that’s frustrating, but these things happen. As a driver, you feel that disappointment very strongly in the moment, but it’s important that we stick together and keep the morale high. There were still plenty of positives in our performance today and, in the bigger picture, it doesn’t change a huge amount. We’ll start P7 tomorrow and we’ve still got a great opportunity to move forward, score some strong points for the team, and hopefully clinch the Constructors’ Championship.”

Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport

“Those were very difficult conditions today and you must take your hat off to the drivers for their collective skill in such treacherous weather. Interlagos can change very quickly, and we saw that throughout the session.

“George had the pace to be on pole today and it is disappointing that he didn’t get the opportunity to finish the job. The call to abort the second lap at the end of Q3 was a real 50-50 decision. He was very slightly up on Norris at that point but was catching Albon and we thought was about to lose time. Without a crystal ball, it was very difficult to know whether to back off and create the space or keep going. In hindsight, with the rain coming on the next lap, we should have kept going but it is very easy to say this after the event. What was most pleasing is that George was very strong throughout and deserved pole position, even if he didn’t get it today.

“Kimi meanwhile did a solid job too in challenging conditions and will start P2 tomorrow. With George’s penalty, we know he has some work to do from further back in P7, but the pace in the car was clear today. We need to execute properly tomorrow and maximise the opportunities we have. With Ferrari starting further back in the field, we know we have an opportunity to clinch the Constructors’ Championship here, but we must focus on deliveringand making the correct decisions.”

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

“We made several small changes to the cars overnight and FP3 gave us a useful opportunity to assess those on the hottest track of the weekend so far. We finished P2 and P4 without either driver feeling they had put together a particularly good lap, so we were optimistic that, had qualifying remained dry, that we would have been fighting at the front.

“The rain arrived at the end of FP3 and continued through to qualifying. Conditions were very poor initially and it was right to red flag the session when the heavier rain arrived. Credit to the FIA too for timing the restart well and allowing us to complete the session in sensible conditions before the light deteriorated further.

“We had decent pace on both the extreme Wet and Intermediate tyres, although the balance wasn’t particularly easy for the drivers. The rear was quite weak and that made it difficult to build confidence. We had a close shave with Kimi in Q2 after leaving the switch to Intermediates a lap later than we should have, but ultimately P2 and P4 on the road is a reasonable team result in such tricky conditions.

“George was understandably frustrated not to get the opportunity to challenge Norris for pole. It was a difficult call at the end of his lap, with Albon ahead, as to whether to back off and create space or continue and risk compromising both that lap and the next. Ultimately, the rain intensified and there was no opportunity to improve.

“We’ve still put ourselves in a good position for tomorrow. We’re expecting more rain and that usually means an eventful race here. We’ve got two cars with good pace and, if we execute well, there should be plenty of opportunity to move forward and fight for the podium.”