The Sao Paulo Grand Prix will take place earlier than planned on Sunday due to the poor weather forecast in Brazil.

Qualifying has already been postponed until Sunday morning after strong thunderstorms and persistent rain prevented a race on Saturday afternoon, and with the better forecast on Sunday, the start of the race will also be postponed.

The start of the race in Interlagos will now take place 2.5 hours earlier – at 12:30pm local time – as opposed to the original time of 3pm – in order to have the best chance of a full race.

The opportunity requires an early start to qualifying, with the aim of completing the session at 7:30am on Sunday morning. If qualifying does not take place for any reason, the race stewards will determine the starting grid composition, for example based on the classification from a previous session that weekend or the championship standings.

“Given the conditions in Sao Paulo today, it was decided not to continue qualifying due to poor visibility, standing water on the track and fading light,” said a statement from the FIA ​​and Formula 1. “Safety is always paramount in such circumstances “We would like to thank all the fans who stayed at the circuit and hoped to see cars on track today .

“Therefore, after consultation with the stewards, the decision was made to schedule qualifying for 7:30 a.m. local time on Sunday morning before the Grand Prix at 12:30 p.m. local time. This will ensure we maximize the chances of giving fans a day of racing action and both the FIA ​​and Formula 1 believe this time change is necessary and the right thing for all of our passionate fans.

“We thank everyone for their patience today, including fans, drivers, teams, marshals, track staff and media, and hope to provide everyone with an exciting event on Sunday.”