LANDO NORRIS LEADS THE ONLY PRACTICE SESSION IN SÃO PAULO
Lando Norris was the fastest driver in Friday’s only practice session for the São Paulo Grand Prix. He finished ahead of his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri and Kick Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg.
Because this is a Sprint weekend, the teams had just one hour of practice to understand the track and adjust their cars before Sprint Qualifying later in the day.
As soon as the session started at 11:30 local time, all 20 cars lined up at the end of the pit lane to begin running, all on the hard tyre.
The first bit of drama happened within 10 minutes. Yuki Tsunoda lost control of his Red Bull while exiting the turn 4 section and hit the barriers, damaging the front and rear of the car. He was able to drive back to the pits, but his mechanics had a lot of work to do, making his weekend more difficult.
Once everyone set a time, George Russell was fastest with a 1:11.188, just ahead of four-time World Champion Max Verstappen. Carlos Sainz in the Williams was next, followed by the two Ferraris.
Interlagos is a narrow and twisty circuit, and this caused many moments of traffic. Kimi Antonelli, Isack Hadjar, Russell, and Norris were all held up during their laps.
Later in the session, drivers switched to softer tyres, and many improved their times. Norris set the best lap of 1:09.975 on medium tyres. Piastri was only a few hundredths of a second slower, as both continue fighting for the Drivers’ Championship. Verstappen looked like he was going to challenge them but backed out of his soft-tyre lap.
Kick Sauber started the weekend well, with Hulkenberg in third and Brazilian driver Gabriel Bortoleto in fifth. They were split by Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin.
Russell fell to sixth, a little over half a second slower than Norris, followed by Sainz, Hadjar, Antonelli, and Liam Lawson.
Alex Albon finished 12th for Williams, ahead of Haas drivers Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman. Lance Stroll was next, followed by Alpine’s Franco Colapinto and Verstappen, who never set a proper lap.
Ferrari had a quiet session. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton stayed on hard tyres and finished 18th and 19th. Hamilton also spun near the end of the session. Tsunoda was last after his crash.
Teams will now think about possible setup changes before Sprint Qualifying, which starts at 15:30 local time.
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