Damon Hill agrees with ‘sensible suggestion’ for qualifying after Sao Paulo Grand Prix postponement

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The Sao Paulo Grand Prix weekend was thrown into chaos after torrential rain meant qualifying was postponed until Sunday morning.

The race previously known as the Brazilian Grand Prix is notorious for heavy rain and thunderstorms impacting racing.

Kevin Magnussen earned the only pole position of his F1 career in 2022 when the conditions dramatically changed halfway through qualifying.

Lewis Hamilton’s 2008 victory when he overtook Timo Glock on the final corner also saw rain play a key role in him earning his first world championship.

There was even a huge crash during the 2003 race in Brazil, which saw Giancarlo Fisichella win his first career race days after the chequered flag flew.

The Sprint Race weekend started as expected in Sao Paulo, with Oscar Piastri earning pole position for Saturday’s shortened race.

McLaren used team orders to hand Lando Norris the win before the teams started preparing for qualifying.

That’s when the rain and thunderstorms started and after several initial delays, it was decided that qualifying would take place on Sunday morning.

The rules don’t technically have a procedure in place for how the grid will be formed if qualifying is cancelled, but Damon Hill has now shared his thoughts on social media.

Damon Hill agrees with ‘sensible’ Sao Paulo Grand Prix qualifying solution

Three sessions have been completed thus far in Sao Paulo, and the stewards could decide to use the result from any of them to form the grid if conditions still aren’t deemed suitable for qualifying to take place.

Posting on social media, journalist Mark Hughes said “If qualifying can’t happen tomorrow morning, then it would be much fairer to use Sprint qualifying than FP1 to form the grid.

“As every driver was treating it as a qualifying session.”

Hill reposted Hughes’s message and added: “As always a sensible suggestion from @SportmphMark.”

If that were to be the case, then Piastri would technically become the first driver ever to earn their maiden F1 pole position without setting a lap in qualifying.

It would be an ideal solution for McLaren too, as Norris would join him on the front row and Max Verstappen would be demoted to 9th after his engine penalty.

READ MORE: Damon Hill shares what Max Verstappen ‘knows’ after Red Bull driver receives another penalty

The Brazilian Grand Prix could be crucial to Sergio Perez’s future

With just three races to go after the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, time is running out for teams to confirm their driver line-ups for next year.

However, rumours persist that Sergio Perez is fighting for his immediate Red Bull position despite having a contract that could run until the end of 2026.

READ MORE: Liam Lawson didn’t ‘even have the words’ for what Sergio Perez did in unbroadcast Sao Paulo Grand Prix radio

Perez missed out on the final session of qualifying for the Sprint Race and has been eliminated in Q1 on five occasions this season.

If Hill’s suggestion is used then Perez would once again have a lot of work to do to secure a strong enough finish to fend off suggestions that he could be replaced.

However, he fought through the pack well to score a point in Saturday’s Sprint Race and will look forward to another battle with Liam Lawson if he is forced to start in the midfield.