Formula 1: Extremely shocking qualifying result in Brazil

Kevin Magnussen surprisingly took the pole position for the Formula 1 sprint race ahead of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix at Interlagos Circuit.

Kevin Magnussen wasn’t competing in Formula 1 at this time last year after losing his ride with Haas following the 2020 season, and it didn’t necessarily look like he was ever going to return.

But just before the 2022 season began, Haas made the decision to release Nikita Mazepin, given the ties of title sponsor Uralkali to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

They opted to bring back the 30-year-old Dane, who immediately rewarded them with a fifth place finish in the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix at Bahrain International Circuit.

At the time, they hadn’t finished a race in the top five since 2018, and they hadn’t even finished a race in the top 10 since 2020.

While the sport’s lone American team haven’t had a result that good in the 19 races that have been contested since then, they experienced arguably their greatest moment on Friday afternoon in the qualifying session at Interlagos Circuit ahead of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Magnussen took the pole position for the 24-lap sprint qualifying race at the 15-turn, 2.677-mile (4.308-kilometer) Sao Paulo, Brazil with a top lap time of 71.674 seconds (134.459 miles per hour) in the third and final round of qualifying, beating two-time reigning world champion Max Verstappen and Red Bull by 0.203 seconds (0.380 miles per hour).

While his starting position for the actual 71-lap race is yet to be solidified, his pole position in today’s qualifying session is what will count as an official pole position in the record books.

It was a wet-dry qualifying session, and Magnussen and the Haas team took advantage of the timing of both to put the VF-22 on pole.

Any time a car other than a Red Bull, Ferrari, or Mercedes is on pole, there is almost inevitably an element of good fortune involved, and things simply aligned for Magnussen and Haas on Friday from start to finish.

Q1 began on a damp track, with McLaren’s Lando Norris setting the pace, but it didn’t take long for teams to move to slick tires. In a dry Q2, it was Verstappen on top, and he was the clear favorite to take another pole position.

But Magnussen went to the top early in Q3 before Mercedes’ George Russell ran into trouble in turn five, leading to a red flag. Amid the stoppage, the rain started to fall, effectively securing Magnussen his first pole position in 140 career Formula 1 starts.

The sprint qualifying race for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix is set to be broadcast live from Interlagos Circuit on ESPN News beginning at 2:25 p.m. ET tomorrow afternoon. The race itself is set to be broadcast live on ABC beginning at 12:55 p.m. ET on Sunday, November 13. Begin a free trial of FuboTV now and don’t miss any of the action!