Formula One workforce Mercedes had a day to recollect on the Brazilian Grand Prix on Saturday however the identical can’t be mentioned for Alpine as fortunes weren’t as favorable.
Mercedes driver George Russell will begin Sunday’s race in pole place after profitable the dash race at Interlagos, with teammate Lewis Hamilton additionally within the entrance row, whereas Alpine drivers Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon had a high-profile conflict on the observe.
“It’s crazy to think we’re both starting on the front row,” Russell mentioned. “We’re in a luxurious place the place we will possibly cut up the technique and go for the win.”
Max Verstappen will begin in third place. He and his Red Bull workforce have already been topped F1 champions.
Alonso will begin again in fifteenth place and didn’t conceal his anger towards Ocon after being compelled huge.
“Just lost the front wing. Thanks to our friend,” Alonso said sarcastically on team radio. “He pushed me in Turn 4 after which lastly within the straight. Well finished.”
Ocon, who topped the afternoon’s free apply, will begin in the18th. Both drivers are at present underneath investigation from race stewards.
Sebastian Vettel, who will retire on the finish of the season, was extra restrained in his reactions after Aston Martin teammate Lance Stroll closed a niche aggressively.
“OK,” the German driver mentioned on workforce radio. Minutes later race organizers gave Stroll a 10-second penalty for a harmful maneuver. Vettel completed ninth, Stroll will begin from seventeenth place.
Hamilton completed third however will make the most of a five-place penalty for Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, who ended second on Saturday. Sainz has added a brand new inner combustion engine for the weekend, a penalty-inducing sixth of the season.
Haas driver Kevin Magnussen, who began in pole Saturday after topping Friday’s qualifying, was eighth.
The Brazilian GP within the penultimate race of the season forward of Abu Dhabi Nov. 20.
