Ahead of today's qualifying session, the air temperature is 22 degrees C, while the track temperature is 44 degrees.
With just one practice session under their belts the teams were already heading into this afternoon somewhat on the back foot, but just to further complicate matters it is raining.
With Max Verstappen having already made clear his feelings in terms of the Sprint, namely the fact that he is under orders not to push too hard, not to risk damage, due to the main event being on Sunday, this could be a golden opportunity for some of the smaller teams to take a risk, especially as it is likely to be wet for the Sprint also.
In the minutes before the start of Q1 the rain stops, but the track remains wet and as we know from experience Interlagos has history in terms of the circuit's reputation for poor drainage which leads to rivers running across certain parts of the track.
In the moments before Q1 light drizzle begins to fall with the threat of a heavier downpour later in Q2 and Q3.
The lights go green and first out are the Haas pair, followed by Tsunoda, Gasly, Stroll and Leclerc, with Inters being the order of the day.
"Rain expected in ten minutes," Leclerc is warned.
"Track looks quite dry," reports Sainz.
"We believe the final corner may be the wettest place," Ricciardo is told as Leclerc goes quickest with a 19.191.
Stroll goes second, ahead of Magnussen, Bottas and Gasly.
A 19.504 sees Tsunoda go second, ahead of Norris, only to be demoted by his AlphaTauri teammate who crosses the line at 19.269.
Sainz goes second with an 18.888 as Leclerc consolidates his top spot with an 18.723.
On his first flyer, Verstappen goes quickest (18.495), as Perez can only manage 12th (19.720).
Norris improves to third, while Hamilton goes sixth.
No sooner has Perez gone second with an 18.503 than Alonso stops the clock at 18.412 to go top.
"Some bits very dry, some bits damp," reports Norris as Gasly makes the switch to slicks (softs).
Verstappen goes quickest (18.198) and Magnussen third, as all eyes are on Gasly to see how the Alpine driver reports on the slicks.
Magnussen has hit time deleted for exceeding the track limits at Turn 7.
Hamilton goes quickest (18.051) and Schumacher fourth, as Gasly begins his first flying lap of the slicks.
Albon also switches to slicks.
Tsunoda goes fifth (18.490), as Gasly isn't showing any sign of improving on his first flying lap.
Next time around the Frenchman goes quickest in S1, maintaining the pace in S2. At the line the alpine driver posts a 17.626 which is the cue for his rivals to make the switch.
"Come on, what do I do?" asks a clearly irritated Leclerc as his team dithers over its choice of tyres.
Gasly improves to 16.557 as Norris goes quickest in S2.
Albon goes second, but is demoted when Norris crosses the line at 17.178.
Russell goes second as the timing screen lights up in greens and purples.
Alonso goes top with a 16.177 as Ricciardo posts an 18.083 to go sixth.
Latifi goes quickest, but is demoted by Norris (14.381), as Verstappen goes second.
Leclerc is impeded by a slow Tsunoda, and the Monegasque isn't happy.
Sainz goes third while his Ferrari teammate fails to improve on 18th.
Albon retakes the top spot, ahead of Norris and Gasly, however Hamilton is about to improve.
Alonso goes quickest with a 13.542 as Vettel goes second.
Magnussen goes third, while Leclerc goes ninth.
A 13.106 sees Hamilton go top, only to lose out to Norris who posts a late 13.106.
"I made the wrong call with the Inters," admits Bottas.
Phew! That was frantic.
Norris is quickest, ahead of Hamilton, Alonso, Vettel, Perez, Verstappen, Magnussen, Albon, Gasly and Stroll.
We lose Latifi, Zhou, Bottas, Tsunoda and Schumacher.
Vettel leads the way as Q2 begins, the German followed by Magnussen, Gasly, Verstappen and Norris.
As more drivers head out, all are sporting softs.
Of the first wave, Verstappen goes quickest with an 11.670, but Norris has an 11.571 up his sleeve. Alonso goes third with an 11.748.
Gasly goes third (11.675), ahead of Alonso, Albon, Sainz and Ocon.
"There is a bot of rain on my vison in Turn 4 and the last sector," reports Gasly. However, he is told that there is no rain on the radar.
Magnussen goes fourth (11.691), ahead of Alonso, Leclerc, Albon and Sainz.
Alonso retakes the top spot with an 11.394, while Vettel can only manage 11th.
Russell believes the team is taking a risk by running old tyres and wants to switch to fresh rubber. He subsequently pits.
"It's definitely getting darker here," reports Verstappen, "a bit of rain, a bit of drizzle."
PBs in the first two sectors for Russell, who eventually crosses the line at 11.475 to go third.
Teammate Hamilton subsequently posts an 11.539 to go fourth, just 0.007s off his teammate's best.
Vettel fails to improve on 13th, while teammate Stroll remains 15th.
As we go on-board with Sainz it is clear that it is beginning to drizzle, though only in S2.
At which point Norris goes quickest in S2, while Vettel improves to eighth overall.
Perez goes fourth and Norris second, the Briton stopping the clock at 11.377.
Leclerc goes second and Russell third but both are demoted when Sainz goes second with a 10.890.
Magnussen goes seventh, while Albon fails to improve on eleventh.
A mistake in Turn 1 ruins Vettel's final lap, while teammate Stroll also looks to have missed the cut.
There are no PBs far less purples as conditions have clearly deteriorated.
Quickest is Verstappen, ahead of Sainz, Leclerc, Russell, Norris, Alonso, Magnussen, Perez, Hamilton and Ocon.
We lose Albon, Gasly, Vettel, Ricciardo and Stroll.
Check out our Friday gallery from Interlagos here.
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