Mercedes driver George Russell warned Formula 1 that a repeat of the torrential rain that hit Sao Paulo Grand Prix qualifying could cause a horrific incident, Crash.net reported.
Torrential rain forced a red flag almost immediately during qualifying at Interlagos, stopping the session for nearly an hour and a half.
Conditions provided a first proper test of the extreme wet tyres in 2026. Several drivers felt the track was borderline.
Russell finished second-fastest in qualifying but starts seventh due to a grid penalty for an engine change. He described severe visibility issues down the straight into Turn 4.
“Q1 was extremely challenging,” Russell said, as reported by Crash.net. “The visibility was zero down the straight into Turn 4. I was wheel-spinning in fifth gear over 200 kilometres an hour, aquaplaning.”
Russell expressed frustration with his qualifying outcome. He questioned the safety of racing in such heavy downpours.
“When you’re aquaplaning on the straight and you can’t see in front of you, it’s… I’m not even sure what the word is to describe it,” Russell stated.
“It does seem a bit crazy, I guess that’s what we have to deal with. I love driving in the rain here, but at some point, if that was a race, there was no way we should be driving in that because the chances of seeing a really, really horrific incident are very, very high.”
Rain hit Sao Paulo on Sunday, and forecasts suggest showers could affect the 71-lap race around Interlagos.
Lando Norris claimed pole position for McLaren, his third straight pole in Brazil. He described the conditions as some of the wettest he had ever driven in, Crash.net reported.
There’s a bit of rain, I think, tomorrow at times, and it’ll still be damp through the day, so we could just have an exciting race with a little bit of everything, honestly.”
Norris noted that such conditions allow drivers to make a bigger difference. He felt confident through qualifying despite the tricky visibility in Q3.
“Q3 was definitely the trickiest because it was also difficult to see, because of the light, where were the dry bits, the wet bits and puddles, things like that,” Norris explained.
