Kevin Magnussen takes sprint pole position for Haas in São Paulo shock

Fortune favoured the brave as from the gloom and damp of Interlagos, Kevin Magnussen burst through to take a remarkable sprint pole position for the São Paulo Grand Prix, the first of his career and the first for his Haas team.

This weekend’s sprint format means Magnussen will not necessarily be on the front of the grid for Sunday’s grand prix. He will start at the front for Saturday’s 24-lap dash, and will surely struggle to hold off the second-placed Max Verstappen.

Nevertheless, it was a terrific moment for the Danish driver. Dropped by Haas at the end of 2020, Magnussen was recalled by the team at the start of this season, to replace Russian driver Nikita Mazepin after the invasion of Ukraine.

Magnussen has stepped up as if he had never been away, and after 139 meetings finally has a pole position. He and the team celebrated with joyous abandon as Haas also claimed their first since entering the sport in 2016.

They have 143 races behind them and this moment will last long in the memory, finally excising their record for the longest run as a constructor in F1 without claiming pole. It was deserved for all that mother nature played her part. Magnussen had already done superbly to put his Haas into Q3 and then grabbed his chance.

The team put him out first at the start of the final session of qualifying in damp conditions with heavier rain threatening. His team suggested he pit to wait it out, but he instead he set out to lay down a time anyway.

It was a bold decision and Magnussen executed it brilliantly. Eight other cars were also out at that point, all on the slick tyres. But Magnussen was the best of them, and only a minute after they set their times George Russell went off, beached his Mercedes in the gravel and