Carlos Sainz led the way in lone FP1 in F1 Brazil GP headed teammate Charles Leclerc, with George Russell in third.
The lone FP1 session in F1 Brazil GP saw Ferrari end up 1-2 after using the soft compound for a qualifying run in the sprint weekend. It was Carlos Sainz in the front with a 1m11.732s lap where he was quicker by 0.108s over Leclerc.
The two went late for a soft tyre run as Mercedes’ George Russell’s time in third hung on until the end of the session on the medium tyre after an early run. Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg was fourth where he complained about power loss on his final run.
He is under investigation along with McLaren’s Lando Norris after the two had a minor collision at a left-hander when their wheels touched. Williams’ Alexander Albon was fifth from Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly.
While Albon set the pace on the soft compound, the other two used the medium tyres to set their pace. There was a late run-in between the Alpine pair where Gasly came behind teammate Esteban Ocon, who was backing off by somewhat blocking Gasly.
Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu was eighth from Williams’ Logan Sargeant and Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, where the American had suspension issues on his first run on the soft compound. The team managed to fix it as he returned to set a Top 10 time.
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso slotted in 11th from Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and AlphaTauri pair of Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo, where Ocon rounded out the Top 15 runners – everyone bar Alonso set the pace on the medium compound.
Alonso did so on the hard compound, as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was only 16th on the hard compound as was teammate Sergio Perez in 18th behind Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas. The Finn had a Turn 1 moment and set his time on the medium tyre.
McLaren’s Norris and Oscar Piastri rounded out the 20 runners on the hard tyre. But both tried medium and soft tyre respectively and were quicker than 19th and 20th, but they both aborted their laps to keep the tyres fresh for qualifying and sprint.
