Lando Norris beat McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri to first place in the only practice session of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, while title rival Max Verstappen struggled with setup issues on his way to 17th.
McLaren used just a set of the Hard and Medium tyres, with Piastri taking the lead on both compounds until the end of the session, when Norris strung together the personal best first and second sectors and completed a purple final split to set the benchmark at 1.09.975. It was the third performance run on the Medium tires and turned a deficit of almost 0.3 seconds for Piastri into a lead of 0.023 seconds.
Piastri set a purple first sector on his final run, but a slow middle split and then a failure to improve in the final sector spoiled his chance to see off Norris, relegating him to second. The Australian ended the session with purple times in the first two sectors, combining for a theoretical best lap that would have been 0.17 seconds faster than Norris if he had strung them together with his single-lap best time.
Although the McLaren drivers were closely matched, their combined lead over the field was enormous, with Norris 0.619 seconds faster than the next non-McLaren driver: Sauber’s Nico Hülkenberg, who took advantage of a tough session for Verstappen and the Ferrari drivers to finish the hour in third.
Title contender Verstappen was unable to join the McLaren drivers at the top of the timesheets after spending the session tinkering with the setup but being unable to find a balance he liked. The Dutchman was eventually sent out on Soft tires for a qualifying simulation run, keeping a set of mediums in reserve for the rest of the weekend, but he abandoned the run before completing his first flying lap to return to the pit lane. He switched back to his used Hards where he set his fastest time, leaving him 1.393 seconds behind in 17th place without a representative lap.
Verstappen led both Ferrari drivers, with Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton in 18th and 19th, having also stayed on the Hard compound for the entire session. They were separated by just 0.033 seconds, but more than 1.5 seconds off the pace, even after Hamilton spun his car late on through Mergulho.
Their absence left Hulkenberg third, ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and home favorite Gabriel Bortoleto in the second Sauber in fourth.
George Russell was the second-best driver in a front-running car in sixth place, but the Briton was 0.67 seconds slower than Norris.
Pierre Gasly was an optimistic seventh for Alpine, the Frenchman saying early in the session: “I don’t know why the car feels more lively today than any other day in recent months.” He was 0.706 seconds off the pace.
Carlos Sainz put Williams in eighth place, ahead of Isack Hadjar for Racing Bulls and Kimi Antonelli in the second Mercedes in tenth.
Liam Lawson finished eleventh, ahead of Alex Albon, Haas teammate Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman, Lance Stroll and the freshly re-signed Franco Colapinto.
Verstappen, Leclerc and Hamilton followed, with Yuki Tsunoda completing the order after a disastrous session in which he veered off the road along the exit at Descida do Lago just over 10 minutes into the session, damaging his front wing and the front right and rear left corners as he clattered into the barriers.
The Red Bull driver lost 25 minutes in his garage for repairs before returning to action on soft tyres, setting the slowest time of the session, leaving him 1.788 seconds behind.
RESULTS
#Norris #surpasses #Piastri #practice #Sao #Paulo #RACER