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Completely surprising: Kevin Magnussen starts from position one in the sprint race in São Paulo
Photo: Marcelo Chello/AP
Mick Schumacher's teammate Kevin Magnussen took pole position for the sprint in a turbulent qualifying from Brazil - Schumacher himself ended up in last place.
Ironically, the much-noticed Haas duo frames the field when the short race starts on Saturday (8:30 p.m. CET/Sky).
In qualifying, which was affected by rain and a decisive accident, world champion Max Verstappen finished second in the Red Bull ahead of Mercedes driver George Russell.
The Englishman benefited from his own mishap: At the beginning of the third qualifying segment, the track was still quite dry, some drivers cautiously did their fast laps on slicks - and Magnussen from the backbench team Haas was the fastest.
Setback for Vettel
However, Russell slipped into the gravel immediately after his good attempt, his car dug in and the session had to be interrupted for a few minutes.
During this phase, heavier rain set in – and the best times could no longer be achieved after that.
Schumacher, who has still not received a new contract with Haas, fell by the wayside in the turbulent first section.
Sebastian Vettel suffered a similar fate in the second round, the ex-world champion in the Aston Martin only finished 13th.
On a wet track, Schumacher was still one of the faster riders with intermediates, but when the asphalt dried up, he couldn't do a sufficiently strong lap on slicks and was passed through.
For Schumacher it is the next setback in the hope of a contract for 2023, Haas probably wants to comment next week.
Schumacher's competitor is veteran Nico Hulkenberg.
However, the starting list now only applies to the sprint, Vettel and Schumacher are likely to hope for a turbulent short race.
After all, it's supposed to rain on Saturday, too, on the course in Interlagos it's often particularly chaotic, improvements may then be possible - the result of the sprint then gives the starting grid for the Grand Prix on Sunday (7 p.m. CET / RTL and Sky) .
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