F1 – Brazilian Grand Prix qualifying LIVE: Latest updates as Lewis Hamilton looks to challenge for pole position with Carlos Sainz fastest in free practice one

Sergio Perez is second in the Drivers’ Championship but he’s a looooong way behind his team-mate, Max Verstappen.

Max has won I think 30 of the last 38 races, and Perez’s season has been poor. He caused his own retirement in his home country of Mexico last week and has a number of drivers breathing down his neck.

One of those drivers is Daniel Ricciardo, who out-qualified Perez last week. He does have a contract next year.

Oh, apparently we don’t have a time to start. Great communication this.

Interlagos is one of the most famous tracks on the circuit and it’s also well-known for its interesting weather. It was here last year that Kevin Magnussen took pole.

People are sweeping the track after an event earlier on. There were three punctures in practice.

Five minutes to go, then

Karun Chandhok has just made a good point on Sky that it’s not essential to qualfy well here given the overtaking opportunities on track.

Oh, it’s been delayed due to debris on the track. 15 minutes of a delay, so we’ll start at 6:15GMT.

Full throttle for two thirds of the track and the most overtakes of any track last season.

Gneuinely really hard to predict this one. It’s a big weekend with practices, qualifying, sprint races and the big one.

Here’s the report from practice.

It’s been 42 races now without a win for seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.

He’s in good form, though, and will be hoping he can challenge today.

‘I came away empty-handed last year so I don’t plan on that this year,’ said Hamilton going into qualifying.

I guess time will tell. Read more below.

Many drivers didn’t use the softs in practice so the standings are a bit all over the place. It’s hard to know what to expect in this one.

Last year here, George Russell won his first ever race in F1 ahead of Lewis Hamilton with Max Verstappen sixth.

How he’d love to repeat that today.

I suppose the best place to start would be FP1, with Carlos Sainz quickest earlier on today.

Good evening one and all and welcome to Mail Sport’s live coverage for the Brazilian Grand Prix.

We’ve got qualifying on a Friday again due to the oh-so-popular sprint race tomorrow and we’re still over in America in Brazil.

A few contenders today, including Lewis Hamilton who continues to look better and better in his Mercedes, Charles Leclerc who took pole last week, and of course the world champion Max Verstappen.

We’ll be underway at 6pm GMT.