Verstappen clinched pole position for the Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday despite punching in a lap that he believed to be ‘terrible’.
Drivers faced an incoming storm as they headed out on track for Q3 at Interlagos with Verstappen setting a time that proved enough to claim pole position by just under three tenths of a second.
Leclerc couldn’t add to recent pole positions in the United States and Mexico with the Monegasque driver forced to settle for a P2 finish, putting him on the front row for Sunday’s race.
Speaking after securing pole in ominous conditions, Verstappen explained: “We didn’t know when it would hit in qualifying, we thought it would hit. This is of course insane weather.
“Charles and I were just discussing, our laps felt terrible, but I don’t know, I think the wind started to change and started to be very strong and we lost a lot of lap time because of it. It was all quite hectic in the last lap.