The first and only free practice session in Brazil begins with wonderful news for the fans. Formula 1 has in fact formalized the permanence of the Interlagos Circuit in Sao Paulo with a renewal signed until 2030. A five-year extension will see the iconic circuit continue to host F1 races continuing a tradition that has been going on since 1973. After being canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic, the race returned with the nickname of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix in 2021. And with the novelty of the Sprint format. A format that has been reconfirmed this year and which includes a single free practice session on Friday before immediately moving on to qualifying which will determine the starting grid for the Grand Prix on Sunday. The Sprint weekend could therefore reserve some surprises for us. So let's see how free practice went in Brazil.
This year, Lewis Hamilton arrives in Brazil with a great ambition: the seven-time world champion, who finished second in Mexico, wants to win. He who has won a lot in his career has had to deal with a less competitive car in the last two seasons. Lewis has not won since the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in 2021. Last year the only victory for Mercedes came in Brazil but with George Russell. Despite this, Hamilton is determined to seek a victory and secure second place in the drivers championship, only 20 points away from Sergio Perez. However, he will have to compete with Max Verstappen, who however declared that he does not particularly like this track.
Start of session, everyone on track with the hard tires
The first to take to the track is Max Verstappen himself, he who often in past weekends has given a little more time to the others, resting and letting his RB19 rest in the pits. In this final part of the season, however, he knows he has to give more than usual to defend his supremacy. Red Bull stopped developing the car as early as the summer break, aware that they had an almost perfect car. In this first part of the session everyone takes to the track on hard tyres. After the first minutes the top 3 is Verstappen, Leclerc, Gasly. Between Max and Checo with the same car and tire there is already a second of gap between the two. The Mexican is in ninth position. He does better in the third attempt, moving within 25 thousandths of a second from the Dutchman who declared before the weekend in Brazil that he had no interest in the debate on Perez's renewal.
After 10 minutes of the session the first push comes from Lewis Hamilton who positions himself in third place behind the two Red Bulls. He shows himself, after all this is as if it were his home. A lot is expected from Mercedes this weekend. Last year the victory came in both the Sprint and the Sunday race. This year, however, the values in the star team's garage seem to have reversed. It's Lewis who leads Russell. The gap between the two, who occupy third and fourth place after 15 minutes of the session, is around 3 tenths.
Red Bull works on the set-up
A lot of work in the Red Bull garage after almost 20 minutes. Max Verstappen returns to the pits for work on the seat and suspension of the RB19, to refine the set-up. We remind you that with a single free practice session the parc fermé will start as early as Friday. The work in this session is fundamental and Max tested it last season, again with a Sprint weekend. The team did not find the ideal set-up, and made a choice that gave the double to Mercedes.
At Aston Martin, however, the problems continue. Alonso was forced to return after 25 minutes of the session due to a puncture. There has been a lot of talk about his future given the disappointing performance of the AMR23. He firmly denied all the rumours, including those that see him as a viable candidate for the second Red Bull seat, in place of Perez.
An mixed session
With such a busy weekend, with the Sprint, free practice becomes a big cauldron. There are those who test the qualification, those who test the race pace in view of tomorrow's Sprint, those who mix and vary the work with the two drivers. George Russell tries the qualification and with the average he places himself in front of everyone with half an hour to go. Fernando Alonso and Max Verstappen follow him in the white. Several try the race pace, including Hamilton, Albon, Leclerc, Sainz. At Haas, however, the tires are saved for Sunday's race. In fact, the two riders use the soft. Taking advantage of the softer compound they placed themselves in second and third position with 17 minutes to go.
News also comes from the pits on the change of Power Unit for the Brazilian Grand Prix. As reported by Mara Sangiorgio, Sky Sport F1 correspondent, Ferrari will not change the engines on the two drivers' single-seaters. Just an exhaust change for them.
At McLaren neither of them enters the top 10, sandwiched between the two Ferraris. Only 12th Norris, after the extraordinary comeback in Mexico, Piastri is instead 15th.
With 10 minutes to go the ranking changes further, between medium and soft tyres. In the top positions we find Russell on the medium tyres, and then Hulkenberg and Albon on the soft tyres. Fourth position for Stroll with the average. Magnussen closes the top 5 with the soft.
Last qualifying simulation laps
After dedicating ourselves to a short long run simulation, several drivers take to the track for the last minutes dedicated to preparing for the qualifying, or qualifications. Remember that with the Sprint we will see two qualifying sessions, one for the race and one for the Sprint. Piastri aborted the lap a few minutes from the end after having scored the best partial in the first two sectors, on the Soft tyre. Several drivers complain of punctures. Sargeant instead complains of a problem with the left rear suspension. Not an easy session for the American driver who will have to serve a penalty during the Sprint. Ferrari, after having lapped for the entire session only on the hard tires, switches to the soft tires in the final minutes and takes the front row of free practice in Brazil. Verstappen, however, did not work with a compound other than white and ended the session in sixteenth position.
The free practice then ends with the following top 10: Sainz, Leclerc, Russell, Hulkenberg, Albon, Stroll, Gasly, Zhou, Sargeant, Magnussen.
Watch the weather because Rain could arrive in the afternoon to make qualifying even more spectacular in Brazil.
