Norris tops first practice ahead of Antonelli in Brazil
Formula One head to the São Paulo Grand Prix for the 20th round of the 2026 season. While the fight for championship has drawn to a close, the Constructors Championship is yet to be decided with Mercedes leading with a significant 120 points, with Ferrari behind.
Before the session began it was announced that George Russell was penalised with a five-place grid penalty after he exceeded his allocated engine changes.
Significantly, a new driver made their Formula One debut, with Rafael Câmera stepping into the Haas cockpit after it was announced Esteban Ocon had departed the team. Another prominent change was in Ferrari as Dino Beganovic replaced Charles Leclerc after the Monegasque welcomed the birth of his child earlier this week.
Five other junior drivers took the wheel for FP1 with Leonardo Fornaroli (McLaren), Luke Browning (Williams), Freddie Slater (Audi), Colton Herta (Cadilliac) and Gabriele Mini (Alpine) clocking in crucial mileage time in Formula One.
Early session drama almost unfolded as Beganovic lost control of his wheel for a split second, he was forced to go wide to avoid contact with Câmera's Haas
Beganovic almost had an early incident as he lost control of his wheel for a split second, as he nearly ran into the back of Câmera.
Max Verstappen exited the pit lane and quickly began his first lap, where he set the benchmark for the session with a 1:12.959.
As the drivers racked up their lap count to warm their tyres up. Cold tyre pressure proved to be an issue early in the session, Sergio Perez was the first to suffer from a significant lockup into Turn 1, Herta replicated the lock up a few minutes later with several drivers struggling on the entrance into Turn 1.
With 47 minutes on the clock, the red flag was flown which brought an unfortunate end to Slater's FP1 session. The bad luck from Mexico followed the young Briton into Interlagos, as his Audi crawled to a stop.
The cars returned to the track with 39 minutes left of the session and the new world champion Kimi Antonelli, eclipsing Verstappen's fastest time. But, the Dutchman retaliated with a strong time of 1:11.953.
Franco Colapinto put in an impressive lap to slot into third place, only 1.1 seconds adrift Verstappen's time. Gabriel Bortoleto was another driver having a strong session, as he clocked in a time that leapfrogged him into second, only six tenths off the Red Bull driver.
A brief yellow flag was brought out after Alex Albon lost power in his Williams, but he found an outpost to retire his car so another red flag period was avoided.
Lando Norris quickened Verstappen's time and took the lead with 1:11.717, down the pack Miní put in an impressive lap to slot into seventh
Another two retirement occurred during the closing ten minutes of the sessions with Browning and Beganovic both struggling with hydraulic issues.
Norris retained the top of practice with Antonelli and Verstappen rounding out the top three. Miní finished the highest of the rookies in seventh and significantly ahead of his teammate Pierre Gasly.
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