São Paulo Grand Prix – Free Practice: Norris in the lead ahead of Russell and Bearman

First and only free practice session of the weekend in Brazil before the Sprint qualifying session. Will the drivers find the best settings? The answer is now.

This start of the session was marked by a lack of grip of the single-seaters due to the resurfacing of the track. Many drivers suffered from this loss of grip, leading to skids in some places, especially at the exit of Senna’s S bend. A problem that decreased throughout the session, although the lack of grip is still slightly felt.

Verstappen imperial, Pérez still trailing behind.

Verstappen showed an impressive pace, leading the standings for much of the free practice sessions. The Dutchman seems to have found his early season form and is putting in some fantastic laps. When he switched to the soft tires, he aborted his lap, but still showed a good pace with those tires.

Once again, the weekend looks promising for him as he continues his fight for the driver’s title against Lando Norris.

On his side, weekends follow one another and look alike for Sergio Perez who once again struggles to keep up with his teammate. Nineteenth at the end of this practice session, the Mexican, plagued by rumors of leaving Red Bull, definitely can’t seem to find his pace of the past. Another complicated weekend is looming for him.

Mercedes in Shape

The Mercedes had a good session, showing a solid pace that suggests good opportunities this weekend.

On medium tires, both drivers finished in the top 3 and showed good performances. However, Russell seemed more comfortable than Hamilton, even though the seven-time world champion also showed a good pace.

When switching to soft tires, Russell set the second best time, while Hamilton, hampered by traffic, dropped to sixteenth place.

A drop in pace for Ferrari

Ferrari seems to have lost some of its momentum compared to previous weekends. Usually in a good position to shine during sprint events, the Scuderia is struggling this time in Brazil, raising doubts about the performances of its drivers.

Charles Leclerc finished sixth, just ahead of his teammate Carlos Sainz, but unfortunately, both drivers did not show the expected pace, raising questions about their ability to compete with other teams this weekend.

It will be crucial for Ferrari to quickly find solutions to regain the competitiveness that allowed them to reach the podium in previous weekends.

McLaren in difficulty at the beginning of the session

At the start of the session, McLaren seemed to encounter some difficulties, with Norris and Piastri outside the top ten. The two cars lacked pace, raising questions about the performance of the British team for the rest of the weekend.

However, by switching to the soft tires, the two drivers managed to improve their times, with Norris setting the best time. Piastri, despite a few mishaps, managed to finish fourth.

We will now have to see if this lack of pace on medium tires will impact McLaren during the weekend.

The result of Free Practice