Brazilian Grand Prix – Free Practice: Ferrari leads, Red Bull keeps its cards close

The F1 returns to Brazil and its famous Interlagos circuit this Friday, November 2nd. It will be a weekend marked by the return of the sprint race, so we will witness today the only free practice session and the qualifying for the Grand Prix.

No rain, but a cloudy sky and the risk of thunderstorms, a weather that didn’t discourage Brazilian fans from answering the call of Formula 1.

Just 3:30 pm, the drivers were already waiting for the green light from the pit lane: there’s no time to waste on these sprint weekends, as they only have one practice session to test the car settings. Verstappen and his number 1 shot out like a pack leader to set the first time. He could feel his seat moving, but that didn’t stop him from clocking a 1:13.138 on hard tires, the session’s first benchmark time.

The Williams played the role of the bad students, starting last in this session, about ten minutes after the green light.

At the end of the first quarter of the session, Hülkenberg set a very impressive time, just 5 tenths behind Verstappen, while the latter returned to the pit to adjust his seat.

All the cars were running on hard tires and Mercedes appeared to be the second strongest team on the grid, with Hamilton and Russell in 3rd and 4th place. This is a circuit that has been quite successful for Mercedes in recent years, with victories in 2021 and 2022.

As if the end of the season wasn’t already difficult, Alonso was unlucky with a slow puncture on the rear left. He was actually improving on the previous lap.

A few improvements on soft tires around mid-session

At 38 minutes before the end of the testing session, Tsunoda was the first to switch to medium tires. He also set the fastest time with a 1:12.802.

At halfway through the session, Russell followed suit, significantly improving the time by almost a second (1:11.865). Alonso treated us to a nice lap time, on hard tires no less, and moved into second place behind Russell and ahead of Verstappen.

The Haas even switched to soft tires. Magnussen climbed up to third place but remained seven tenths behind the benchmark time. Hülkenberg, on his out lap from the pits, collided with Norris at turn 13: no consequences for the cars. The German driver took second place on the timesheet.

This incident will still require an investigation by the commissioners after the session: case to be followed…

The rest of the field were waiting patiently and still did not fit the soft tires, only 5 cars had set lap times on medium or soft tires.

We were able to observe small wheel lock-ups at turn 1, at the entry of Senna’s S: first Zhou early in the session, then Sargeant with his Williams. The 40 meters of negative elevation make braking even more delicate following the finish straight.

Sargeant even experienced some damage, likely the breaking of his left rear suspension while his right front wheel was no longer touching the track.

Ferrari is back!

Only 10 minutes remaining and the pace was picking up significantly! Albon on soft tires came within 2 tenths of Russell’s fastest time. The lap times were very close: 11 cars were within just 1 second!

Hülkenberg had a scary moment on the kerb at the exit of turn 4. This was followed by a loss of power for the rest of the lap: the session ended there for him.

The Ferraris finally woke up in red rubber: Sainz set the fastest time in 1:11.732, closely followed by Leclerc just one-tenth slower.

The radio got slightly heated at Gasly’s. He was doing one last quick lap while Ocon had backed off, which hindered him. Our two French drivers finish 7th and 15th.

The session was coming to an end, with no real hierarchy established in the standings. The Mercedes had not opted for the softest tyres, and even the Red Bulls stayed on hard tyres. In this game, Sainz and Leclerc’s lap times remained at the top of the standings, ahead of Russell’s.

Classification of Free Practice of the 2023 Brazilian Grand Prix in F1