Hamilton crashes out on first lap, Bottas takes pole, Vettel 2nd
Members of Hamilton's team robbed at gunpoint
Race coverage on Sunday from 14:30 GMT
Tom Clarkson
BBC Radio 5 live sports extra commentator
I think more can be done by putting more police out there after dark. Friday night is when teams are leaving at their latest because they have all their meetings.
Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer at Interlagos
The perils of a race in this part of Sao Paulo were made clear again last night, when a van of Mercedes personnel was held up at gunpoint on the road away from the track and its occupants robbed. No-one was hurt. There were close escapes for staff from governing body the FIA and Williams, too.
It’s hardly the first time this has happened in Brazil - Sauber were robbed a few years ago and Jenson Button had a narrow escape in his McLaren days. It’s just one of the facts of life in this vibrant but edgy city.
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Disappointing news from Interlagos as Lewis Hamilton confirms some of his Mercedes team members were robbed at gunpoint on leaving the circuit last night.
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Mostly dry conditions may be forecast but there's a bit of drizzle falling on the circuit now with 10 minutes to go until final practice.
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Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer at Interlagos
Image source, Getty ImagesThe end of the season has been torrid for Toro Rosso, whose seemingly endless series of engine problems in Mexico two weeks ago has continued into Brazil this weekend. Pierre Gasly and Brendon Hartley entered the weekend with 10-place grid penalties, both suffered engine problems in practice on Friday, Gasly has been hit with another 15-place penalty and Hartley is likely to have more, too.
Renault managing director Cyril Abiteboul says he is “not happy” but hinted that there was an issue specific to the Toro Rosso car. McLaren racing director Eric Boullier hinted at this when he said that he was not concerned about the problems, despite their switch to Renault engines next season. “It’s mainly affecting one team,” he said.
Toro Rosso deny this, and have put out a strongly worded statement hitting back at Renault, who Toro Rosso are replacing with Honda next season. They say that the problem is the lack of available parts and “constantly having to change parts from one PU to another during the weekend and, on many occasions, is forced to run old specification assemblies”, adding that four of the six Renault-engined cars failed to finish in Mexico two weeks ago, which was “unacceptable”.
The statement ended by saying: “We mustn’t forget that they are fighting with Toro Rosso for a better position in the constructors’ championship, as suggested by Mr (Cyril) Abiteboul (Renault Sport managing director), the situation may not be a coincidence, but it is certainly not due to STR’s car.”
There may not be a storm brewing in the skies but there could be one in the paddock...
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It's cloudy above the circuit with 20 minutes to go until final practice gets under way.
Yesterday's forecast suggested a strong possibility of rain today but, as ever, things change quickly in Brazil...
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Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer at Interlagos
Image source, Getty ImagesSo far this weekend, Lewis Hamilton has been true to his word that he would not back off even though the title has been won. Fastest in both sessions, on short runs by a smidge from team-mate Valtteri Bottas, and by more on the long ones, the world champion on Friday evening looked firmly on course to double his number of career victories in Brazil, which has not always been the happiest of hunting grounds for him.
“Great,” he said. “It’s been a really good day. Valtteri has been driving really well and the Red Bulls and Ferraris are close but we got through our sessions nice and cleanly and we gave taken a lot of information, as good a Friday as we could have hoped for. A good day.”
Hello!
Welcome along to our coverage of qualifying day for the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Mercedes looked mighty strong in Friday practice but what happens on the first day of a race weekend doesn't always mean more of the same on the next two days.
So will it be a...
Image source, Getty ImagesOr a...
Image source, Getty Images... kinda day for Ferrari?