Following the stunning developments of qualifying the Brazilian Grand Prix will begin with one Mercedes at the front of the field and the other at the back, in the pit lane.
Pole sitter Valtteri Bottas has a great chance to score his first victory for four months and put some polish on what has been a different second half to his first season at Mercedes.
How successful he may be in doing that will first of all rest on him getting a good start. But even if he manages that he can still count on sustained pressure from Ferrari.
Mercedes’ vulnerability in hotter temperatures is well-known, and it’s partly what Ferrari will be counting on. Like Bottas, they have also been without a win since the summer break.
While Bottas tried to make his escape, Hamilton will probably be relishing the prospect of getting stuck in from the back of the field with a fresh engine and four untouched sets of super-soft tyres. The latter may prove especially useful if there’s a late Safety Car appearance.
Although Red Bull had a disappointing Saturday, they ran better in the warm conditions on Friday and could be back in the hunt on race day. At the end of qualifying Max Verstappen commented on the difficulty he’s had getting the front end to turn in as he wants. But the RB13s are habitually quicker over a race stint, as we’ve seen in recent events.
Daniel Ricciardo has a bigger job on his hands as another power unit penalty has dropped him back into the pack. If he can make quick progress through traffic he may be able to run long on his soft tyres, which is his preferred of the two softer compounds.
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As usual the hardest available tyre is unlikely to figure in the strategies. Expect most drivers to opt for one-stop strategies, those starting on super-softs to keep them on until at least lap 26.
The recovering Ricciardo and Hamilton will inevitably reach the top midfielders at some point, so the key to their race will be losing as little time as possible at the start. Watch for Fernando Alonso getting his elbows out again Sergio Perez at the start. The latter may well be preoccupied with ensuring he keeps his team mate behind, especially as Esteban Ocon has the benefit of a free choice of tyre for the start of the race.
Qualifying times in full
| Driver | Car | Q1 | Q2 (vs Q1) | Q3 (vs Q2) | |
| 1 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1’09.452 | 1’08.638 (-0.814) | 1’08.322 (-0.316) |
| 2 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1’09.643 | 1’08.494 (-1.149) | 1’08.360 (-0.134) |
| 3 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1’09.405 | 1’09.116 (-0.289) | 1’08.538 (-0.578) |
| 4 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1’09.820 | 1’09.050 (-0.770) | 1’08.925 (-0.125) |
| 5 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1’09.828 | 1’09.533 (-0.295) | 1’09.330 (-0.203) |
| 6 | Sergio Perez | Force India | 1’10.145 | 1’09.760 (-0.385) | 1’09.598 (-0.162) |
| 7 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren | 1’10.172 | 1’09.593 (-0.579) | 1’09.617 (+0.024) |
| 8 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 1’10.078 | 1’09.726 (-0.352) | 1’09.703 (-0.023) |
| 9 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Renault | 1’10.227 | 1’09.768 (-0.459) | 1’09.805 (+0.037) |
| 10 | Felipe Massa | Williams | 1’09.789 | 1’09.612 (-0.177) | 1’09.841 (+0.229) |
| 11 | Esteban Ocon | Force India | 1’10.168 | 1’09.830 (-0.338) | |
| 12 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | 1’10.148 | 1’09.879 (-0.269) | |
| 13 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren | 1’10.286 | 1’10.116 (-0.170) | |
| 14 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 1’10.521 | 1’10.154 (-0.367) | |
| 15 | Brendon Hartley | Toro Rosso | 1’10.625 | ||
| 16 | Pascal Wehrlein | Sauber | 1’10.678 | ||
| 17 | Pierre Gasly | Toro Rosso | 1’10.686 | ||
| 18 | Lance Stroll | Williams | 1’10.776 | ||
| 19 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | 1’10.875 | ||
| 20 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes |
Sector times
| Driver | Sector 1 | Sector 2 | Sector 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Valtteri Bottas | 17.299 (1) | 34.773 (2) | 16.226 (1) |
| Sebastian Vettel | 17.370 (3) | 34.680 (1) | 16.257 (2) |
| Kimi Raikkonen | 17.364 (2) | 34.804 (3) | 16.361 (3) |
| Max Verstappen | 17.560 (6) | 34.853 (4) | 16.397 (5) |
| Daniel Ricciardo | 17.609 (7) | 35.211 (7) | 16.470 (7) |
| Sergio Perez | 17.521 (4) | 35.534 (10) | 16.482 (8) |
| Fernando Alonso | 17.740 (9) | 35.197 (5) | 16.652 (14) |
| Nico Hulkenberg | 17.745 (11) | 35.204 (6) | 16.537 (9) |
| Carlos Sainz Jnr | 17.777 (13) | 35.287 (8) | 16.645 (13) |
| Felipe Massa | 17.544 (5) | 35.666 (12) | 16.387 (4) |
| Esteban Ocon | 17.626 (8) | 35.723 (14) | 16.449 (6) |
| Romain Grosjean | 17.752 (12) | 35.550 (11) | 16.548 (10) |
| Stoffel Vandoorne | 17.913 (16) | 35.399 (9) | 16.795 (19) |
| Kevin Magnussen | 17.740 (9) | 35.682 (13) | 16.591 (11) |
| Brendon Hartley | 17.937 (18) | 35.965 (17) | 16.717 (15) |
| Pascal Wehrlein | 17.967 (19) | 35.922 (16) | 16.754 (18) |
| Pierre Gasly | 17.881 (15) | 35.903 (15) | 16.740 (17) |
| Lance Stroll | 17.996 (20) | 36.141 (18) | 16.639 (12) |
| Marcus Ericsson | 17.918 (17) | 36.218 (19) | 16.739 (16) |
| Lewis Hamilton | 17.800 (14) | 41.048 (20) | 16.976 (20) |
Speed trap
| Pos | Driver | Car | Engine | Speed (kph/mph) | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Esteban Ocon | Force India | Mercedes | 332.7 (206.7) | |
| 2 | Sergio Perez | Force India | Mercedes | 332.5 (206.6) | -0.2 |
| 3 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | Ferrari | 332.3 (206.5) | -0.4 |
| 4 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | Mercedes | 330.9 (205.6) | -1.8 |
| 5 | Felipe Massa | Williams | Mercedes | 330.4 (205.3) | -2.3 |
| 6 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | Ferrari | 329.9 (205.0) | -2.8 |
| 7 | Lance Stroll | Williams | Mercedes | 328.3 (204.0) | -4.4 |
| 8 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | Ferrari | 326.3 (202.8) | -6.4 |
| 9 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | Ferrari | 325.2 (202.1) | -7.5 |
| 10 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | TAG Heuer | 324.5 (201.6) | -8.2 |
| 11 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | TAG Heuer | 323.7 (201.1) | -9.0 |
| 12 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | Mercedes | 323.3 (200.9) | -9.4 |
| 13 | Pierre Gasly | Toro Rosso | Renault | 322.7 (200.5) | -10.0 |
| 14 | Brendon Hartley | Toro Rosso | Renault | 322.0 (200.1) | -10.7 |
| 15 | Pascal Wehrlein | Sauber | Ferrari | 321.2 (199.6) | -11.5 |
| 16 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | Ferrari | 320.9 (199.4) | -11.8 |
| 17 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Renault | Renault | 320.2 (199.0) | -12.5 |
| 18 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | Renault | 319.2 (198.3) | -13.5 |
| 19 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren | Honda | 316.2 (196.5) | -16.5 |
| 20 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren | Honda | 315.5 (196.0) | -17.2 |
Drivers’ remaining tyres
| Driver | Team | Medium | Soft | Super-soft | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New | Used | New | Used | New | Used | ||
| Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Sergio Perez | Force India | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Esteban Ocon | Force India | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Felipe Massa | Williams | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Lance Stroll | Williams | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| Fernando Alonso | McLaren | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Brendon Hartley | Toro Rosso | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Pierre Gasly | Toro Rosso | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Romain Grosjean | Haas | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Carlos Sainz Jnr | Renault | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Pascal Wehrlein | Sauber | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
Over to you
Will Bottas or one of the Ferraris be first home? And what can Ricciardo and Hamilton salvage from their compromised starting positions?
Share your views on the Brazilian Grand Prix in the comments.
2017 Brazilian Grand Prix
- 2017 Brazilian Grand Prix Predictions Championship results
- 2017 Brazilian Grand Prix team radio transcript
- 2017 Brazilian Grand Prix Star Performers
- 21 podiums without a win: Raikkonen extends his record
- “We lost it in the start”: Brazilian GP team radio highlights
Kribana (@krichelle)
11th November 2017, 22:18
If you wanted to give Valterri a help… You just gave him the worst help… Now he has to deal with it by himself… I don’t know how will he beat the ferraris alone.. He needs some serious pace tomorrow…
Frederick Mann (@myst)
11th November 2017, 23:10
@krichelle
Why Bottas had only minus 17 pts to Lewis in July and what happened after that?
Patrickl (@patrickl)
12th November 2017, 7:26
The rest of the season? Where Red Bull also became involved.
F1 in Figures (@f1infigures)
12th November 2017, 9:28
It seems likely that Bottas will be struggling in the race, as his tire consumption is usually higher than that of his rivals. However, I’m not so sure this race will be a straightforward 1-stopper. History has shown that tire wear is commonly higher than predicted at Interlagos. More pitstops means he is even more likely to lose the lead. He might even finish behind Hamilton.
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
12th November 2017, 10:27
I think that is a bit much. He might finish behind Hamilton when Bottas is on pole and Hamilton is starting from the pit lane? Bottas will have to have to have some serious bad luck for that to happen.
The last time he started on pole, he managed to win. And he’s looked incredibly close to Hamilton’s pace all weekend. Bottas was 0.127 behind in P1, 0.048 in P2 and 0.003 ahead in P3. And had a far better qualifying. So I’m not convinced in the slightest that this could happen. Unless it involves bad luck on Bottas’s side.
tore
12th November 2017, 15:51
It’s good to see Merc again giving Bottas prime engine mode now that Hamilton has WDC in the pocket)
ruliemaulana (@ruliemaulana)
12th November 2017, 2:49
Looks like Renault is set to snatch no 6 position from Toro Rosso today.
Hoping for more row between them. We need more drama to entertain us in the last two races. #nocoincident
F1 in Figures (@f1infigures)
12th November 2017, 9:16
Nah, probably their engines will blow again or their drivers will blow it, like last race.
Ju88sy (@)
12th November 2017, 6:56
It has the potential to be a fascinating race, in the hotter conditions on Friday the long run race pace order was Hamilton-Vettel-Bottas, with race conditions similar to Friday Bottas should have his hands full keeping Vettel behind.
Patrickl (@patrickl)
12th November 2017, 7:29
Lets see if Vettel lets them make it through the first corner undamaged. Actually also Bottas has been involved in some crashes with Raikkonen even if that has been a while ago.
I just hope it’s not all over at turn one again.
hahostolze (@hahostolze)
12th November 2017, 8:23
I think if the Red Bulls are in any way gonna be in this Verstappen needs to have racy first laps. Ricciardo is far back but he’s on the softs which could well be a very good strategy. Podium not gone…
Black bart
12th November 2017, 12:27
I like this guy. I mean he has a hot gf in a hotel room and he would rather play a sim racer.
#legend.
Jonathan Parkin
12th November 2017, 13:05
A late Safety Car may help, as long as it’s not too late! We recall the 2012 race which finished under stabilised conditions because of Paul DiResta’s crash