Brazilian Grand Prix – Free Practice 1: Sergio Pérez sets the fastest time ahead of Charles Leclerc

The penultimate round of this Formula 1 season starts this Friday in Sao Paulo. With the return of the sprint race on Saturday, the qualifying session will take place this Friday instead of the Free Practice 2, which will be held tomorrow before the sprint race.

If the world championship title has not been at stake for several weeks, nor the constructor’s championship, there is still elbowing at the back to secure second place. Sergio Perez only has a 5-point lead over Charles Leclerc, while all eyes will be on Ferrari after their underperformance in Mexico two weeks ago. As for the constructors, the Scuderia seems to be well on track to win second place, but Mercedes is regaining strength with just two races left. Not to mention the fierce battle for 4th place between Alpine, currently in 4th, and McLaren, 6 points behind.

But hostilities begin, as usual, with Free Practice 1. Most of the cars come out on hard tires, while at the top of the leaderboard, Mercedes has opted for mediums. Good news of the day: Lando Norris is taking part in this first session, while the suspense remained until the last moment, as the British driver was suffering from food poisoning.

Everyone is leaving the pitlane directly, except Alex Albon, but he won’t be taking long to hit the track. It will be important to pay attention to the traffic, which can quickly become a problem on this relatively short circuit. The reigning world champion, Max Verstappen, quickly takes the lead in the fastest lap ranking, with a time of 1:13.646. If he goes too wide in turn 4, it seems that he did it deliberately to let his teammate pass. However, on the radio, the Dutchman complains about a problem turning in the corners. “Everywhere except turns six and seven – it really doesn’t turn,” indicates the Red Bull driver, visibly unsatisfied with his initial setup.

Note that Lando Norris also takes too wide of a line and hits the grass unintentionally on his side. The same observation can be made for Carlos Sainz, who sent the grass flying during a quick excursion beyond the track limits. The Spanish driver accuses Lando Norris of blocking his path. Similarly, his teammate Charles Leclerc will complain about Lance Stroll’s behavior, as he also blocked his path.

Little surprise at the start of the session on the side of Valtteri Bottas, the Finn being the second fastest, 0.232 seconds behind Verstappen, and 0.397 seconds ahead of Sergio Pérez.

Shortly before the halfway point of the session, the drivers return to the garages. Pérez, who stayed on track, also goes wide. Therefore, it will be necessary to keep an eye on respecting the track limits during the sprint qualifying later this Friday, as many cars went wide. However, the Mexican driver takes the lead, ahead of his teammate and… the two Haas, another temporary surprise in this free practice session. Fernando Alonso also shows great speed with over 25 minutes remaining.

The return of Ferrari?

If it is still a bit early to affirm it, it would seem that the Ferraris have regained some form this Friday, managing to position themselves just behind the Red Bulls. As for the Mercedes team, the German team started the session in a rather timid manner before coming back behind Red Bull and Ferrari towards the end of the session. We have also seen technicians working on Lewis Hamilton’s rear wing, as he complained on the track about a lack of grip from his rear tires. Will the Briton have problems with opening the DRS? That remains to be determined. In terms of technical issues, it is worth noting that Lance Stroll is also experiencing a problem with his car and returned to the garage with fifteen minutes remaining. But the issue will be quickly resolved as the Canadian will go back out on track later.

At the end of this free practice session, it is finally Sergio Pérez who sets the fastest time, at 1:11.853. But he is closely followed by Charles Leclerc, just 0.004 seconds behind, himself threatened by Max Verstappen, 0.004 seconds behind the Monegasque. This is therefore played out in a very tight margin, just a few hours before the qualifying session for the Sprint.

Note: Carlos Sainz will incur a 5-place grid penalty on Sunday as he is benefiting from a new internal combustion engine (ICE) in his car.

The ranking of the first free practice session.