Verstappen took no unnecessary risks on Saturday and hopes for plenty of safety car periods in the race

Qualifying for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix took place in challenging, changeable conditions. It was therefore a shame we did not see more of Max Verstappen’s mastery. The Dutchman climbed out of the cockpit as soon as Q1 was over. There was no point in continuing.

Verstappen received a new internal combustion engine, turbocharger and exhaust system on Saturday, resulting in a 30-place grid penalty and an automatic back-of-the-grid start. He will join Lewis Hamilton at the back, with the Briton expected to start ahead of him after qualifying 11th.

Had the Dutchman outqualified Hamilton on Saturday, he would have started ahead of him, but Max Verstappen felt it was not worth the risk. “My mind is already set to tomorrow. It was just about doing a lap, not risking anything. But every lap that I did, we were out there. For me, that’s not a surprise.”

Hamilton continued into Q2 and almost reached Q3, which also had its benefits. As well as securing a starting position ahead of Verstappen, he gained a little more experience of the conditions on the drying track, which will come in useful on Sunday. Forecasters say rain is also possible on Sunday.

Will we see a charge through the field like the one Verstappen produced here in 2024? On a dry track, it will be difficult. Perhaps not in the midfield, but once he catches the other leading teams, he expects a tough battle. “It was in the past, but now we don’t have DRS anymore, and the overtake mode is very limiting around here because of the long straight. Everyone is draining the battery. So your speed difference on the straight is gonna be a lot less, a bit like Mexico, really. So it’ll be quite a lot harder, I think, to pass than normal.”

What could help him most on Sunday? The four-time champion knows what he will be wishing for: “Lots of Safety Cars. So they can’t pull away. It keeps coming back to me!”

He will not, however, spend long on Saturday pondering hypothetical scenarios for the Grand Prix. “We’ll see. Honestly, I don’t really think about it too much. I’ll just go from lap one and see where I end up. Also, hope we can clear the cars in front of us as quickly as we can.”