Formula 1 president and CEO Stefano Domenicali thanked
the fans in attendance at Interlagos for their “patience and dedication”, after
qualifying action was postponed.
Saturday’s qualifying was delayed until 7.30am local time
on Sunday, with the action lasting close to two hours with five red flags prior
to a mammoth Grand Prix later in the day.
F1 CEO thanks fans and staff following Brazilian Grand
Prix qualifying postponement
Domenicali added that the initial postponement for
qualifying was the “right thing to do”, given the FIA’s previous reasoning that
qualifying did not take place on safety grounds, after significant rainfall in
Sao Paulo.
While there was a long day of action on Sunday, it is not
unprecedented in Formula 1 for qualifying to be held on Sunday – though it is
extremely rare for qualifying to be delayed in such a way due to the weather.
The race that followed, however, became an instant
classic – with Max Verstappen rising
from 17th on the grid to take a potentially pivotal victory on his way to what
he hopes will be a fourth World Championship.
There was action throughout the field on Sunday as the
weather played its part at Interlagos, but with the time of the race brought
forward by 90 minutes, Domenicali added that the hope was to “maximise the
opportunity” for the full Grand Prix to take place – which managed to happen.
“I want to thank all our fans and everyone working across
the sport for their patience and dedication this weekend,” Domenicali said in a
statement.
“I believe it was the right thing to do to move qualifying and the race to earlier on Sunday to maximise the opportunity for racing to take place because of the potential forecast later in the day
.webp)
