Red Bull Racing’s Alexander Albon led a wet FP1 in F1 Brazil GP before his late crash as Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas was second and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel third.
It was a rainy start to the F1 Brazil GP weekend at Interlagos with heavy showers hampering the FP1 session, where the Ferrari drivers were first to venture out on the full wet compound, followed by the Alfa Romeo Racing duo.
As the session progressed, the F1 drivers started to switch onto the intermediate tyres and by the end of it, they managed to get onto the slick compound but no one got a lap in due to a red flag caused by Red Bull Racing’s Alexander Albon’s crash.
A small moment for the Thai racer was enough for him to crash onto the tyre barrier in slippery conditions, seconds after teammate Max Verstappen spun. Despite the late crash for Albon, he ended up as the fastest in Brazil GP FP1 session with a 1m16.142s lap.
He led Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas (1m16.693s) and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel (1m17.041s) in the Top 3 with Charles Leclerc (1m17.285s) in fourth, carrying a brand new power unit but not an updated machine from the Italian manufacturer.
McLaren’s Carlos Sainz (1m17.786s) was best of the rest in fifth with Renault duo Nico Hulkenberg (1m17.899s) and Daniel Ricciardo (1m17.985s) slotting in sixth and seventh respectively. They headed Toro Rosso duo Pierre Gasly and Daniil Kvyat.
Gasly set a 1m18.100s lap with Kvyat setting in a 1m18.274s, before a spin for the Russian on the slick compound. McLaren’s Lando Norris (1m18.559s) rounded out the Top 10 with Williams’s George Russell (1m18.779s) just missing out in 11th.
Haas’ Kevin Magnussen (1m19.247s) was 12th with Racing Point’s Lance Stroll (1m19.414s) 13th ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen (1m19.532s) and Antonio Giovinazzi (1m19.600s). Williams’ Nicholas Latifi (1m20.010s) was 16th.
The Canadian reserve was the last of the drivers to set a lap time in Brazil GP FP1 session, as Haas’ Romain Grosjean, Racing Point’s Sergio Perez, Red Bull’s Verstappen and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton did not get a lap.
