Lando Norris set the only fastest time ahead of Oscar Piastri in the Interlagos practice session ahead of Friday night’s São Paulo Grand Prix sprint qualifying.
New title leader Norris recorded a pace-setting lap of 1:09.975 in his final gasp time, 0.023 seconds ahead of teammate Piastri. McLaren proved to have the upper hand on the practice timesheets for the first qualifying session of the crucial sprint weekend, which was broadcast live on Sky Sports F1 from 6.30pm.
Norris has continued his run since qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix three races ago, finishing ahead of Piastri in every session, with Piastri holding the advantage until the end of practice at the weekend, but Norris is looking to regain his form after losing the world championship lead to the Briton by one point in Mexico two weeks ago.
“Oscar Piastri has definitely put himself together,” said Sky Sports F1’s Martin Brundle.
“He seemed to be back to his previous form and settled on the track. There is a very close relationship between him and Norris.
“But without a doubt, Piastri is back in form.”
Unlike the Papaya machine, Max Verstappen did not use medium tires during the session, resulting in a disappointing 17th place.
The Red Bull driver, who is 36 points behind Norris in the standings, briefly ran on the fastest compound, the soft, in the closing stages, but abandoned the lap after sector two as he was half a second behind Piastri’s then-benchmark.
Use Chrome Browser for a more accessible video player
Yuki Tsunoda’s Red Bull spins off early during Sao Paulo GP practice
And although he avoided the pitfalls experienced by teammate Hiroki Tsunoda, who spun at Turn 4 early in the session and crashed into the barriers, Verstappen still didn’t seem to like the RB21’s handling and went off the track twice at the same corner.
Verstappen was followed at the bottom of the standings by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, who both finished 18th and 19th respectively after spending the entire session on the hard compound.
Hamilton, who was on worn-out tyres, spun off the downhill Mergrullo course in the second half and the Briton continued on without damaging his car as the Ferrari made two 360 degrees.
Use Chrome Browser for a more accessible video player
Lewis Hamilton pushed hard on his old tires and paid the price by spinning off the track at turn 11 during the first practice session for the São Paulo Grand Prix.
However, the same was true for Tsunoda, who lost control of his car when he went over a curb at the exit of the right-hand corner following the back straight, damaging the Red Bull’s front and rear wings.
The Japanese driver missed the next 25 minutes of track running while his team completed repairs in the garage, but upon his return he eventually finished 20th on soft tires.
While Verstappen and the Ferraris closed in on the bottom of the standings, both Sauber cars finished within the top five. Nico Hulkenberg was third, and Brazil’s Gabriel Bortleto, competing in his home country for the first time, was fifth. Meanwhile, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso finished fourth.
Mercedes’ George Russell, who won his first F1 victory at the same circuit in 2022, increased his pace early in the session on hard tires, but fell back to sixth place. Pierre Gasly in the Alpine, Carlos Sainz in the Williams, Izak Hajjar in the Racing Bull and Kimi Antonelli in the second Mercedes completed the top ten.
Sky Sports F1 Sao Paulo GP Schedule
Use Chrome Browser for a more accessible video player
A look back at some of the most dramatic moments that happened at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Friday, November 7th
4:30pm: Team representative press conference
6pm: São Paulo GP Sprint Qualifying (session starts at 6:30pm)*
Saturday, November 8th
1pm: Sao Paulo GP Sprint Build-up
2pm: São Paulo GP Sprint*
3:30pm: Ted’s Sprint Notebook
5pm: Sao Paulo GP qualifying build-up
6pm: Sao Paulo GP Qualifying
8pm: Ted’s Qualification Notebook
Sunday, November 9th
3:30pm: Sunday’s Grand Prix: Sao Paulo GP Build-up
5pm: Sao Paulo Grand Prix
7pm: Checkered flag: São Paulo GP reaction
8pm: Ted’s Notes
*Also held at Sky Sports Main Event
F1’s thrilling title race continues in Brazil, with the São Paulo Grand Prix sprint weekend being broadcast live on Sky Sports F1 from this Friday. Stream Sky Sports now – cancel anytime with no contract
