Lando Norris topped the timesheets at the end of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix’s only free practice session. His time of 1m9.975s was enough to pip teammate Oscar Piastri by just two hundredths of a second. It wasn’t all plain sailing for the McLaren duo as Norris encountered traffic on the run into turn five on one of his push laps, while Piastri suffered a snap of oversteer on the exit of turn three. The Australian comes to Brazil having lost the championship lead last time out in Mexico and currently sits a single point behind Norris in the standings.
Kick Sauber were the class of the midfield as Nico Hulkenberg took third ahead of Fernando Alonso and his teammate Gabriel Bortoleto, who is sporting a special Senna-inspired helmet design for this, his first home race.
George Russell was the session’s early pace setter, but once the soft tyre runs were complete, he had to settle for sixth, just ahead of Pierre Gasly and Carlos Sainz.
Isack Hadjar finished the session ninth, despite being impeded by Piastri on the run into turn five. The RB driver will be looking for a strong result as questions still linger over who will partner Max Verstappen at Red Bull next year.
Kimi Antonelli had his progress interrupted by a slow-moving Lewis Hamilton and Ollie Bearman but was able to salvage tenth place. Liam Lawson was another driver perturbed by traffic as he accused Yuki Tsunoda of blocking him at the pitlane exit.
Alex Albon reported brake trouble and ran wide at turn one en route to 12th ahead of Bearman and Esteban Ocon, who also sports a one-off helmet design for this weekend. Lance Stroll ended the session 15th ahead of Franco Colapinto, who has just secured a contract extension with Alpine for 2026.
Max Verstappen looked to be on the pace during the initial hard tyre runs. However, the reigning world champion was unable to set a representative time on the softs at the end of the session and was therefore classified 17th, just ahead of the two Ferraris. Charles Leclerc’s best time was set on the hards and was only good enough for P18. The same was true of Lewis Hamilton, who also suffered a 720-degree spin in the final sector.
Yuki Tsunoda found himself at the bottom of the timesheet, thanks in part to a crash early in the session. A wayward moment on the exit of turn four sent him spinning into the barriers. Tsunoda was able to continue despite the resulting contact.
McLaren may have taken the spoils in free practice, but with Verstappen’s true pace a mystery, it is difficult to pick a favourite as we head into sprint qualifying.
