Sao Paulo GP FP1: Norris from Piastri, Verstappen 17th

While Norris delivered the fastest lap in the dying moments of FP1 Piastri appeared to be in control earlier in the session showing his intent to strike back after being on the receiving end in the intra-McLaren battle for some time now.

But it must have been a worrying session for reigning Formula 1 Champion, Max Verstappen, who ended the session down in 17th.

Verstappen was in the top positions early on when long runs were conducted on the Hard tyres, but then he went for a big setup change ahead of the qualifying simulations and while other drivers did those on the Mediums, the Red Bull ace went for the Softs but failed to go faster.

With Norris and Piastri leading and separated by just 0.023s, Nico Hulkenberg went third fastest in the Sauber, but 0.619s off the pace with Fernando Alonso less than a tenth behind the the German in fourth.

Gabriel Bortoleto had an encouraging start to his home weekend, and was fifth fastest in the other Sauber while George Russell was 0.029s behind him in sixth.

Pierre Gasly was seventh fastest in the Alpine ahead of Carlos Sainz who was eighth in the Williams, as Isack Hadjar was ninth. Kimi Antonelli was tenth.

In addition to Verstappen, both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were way off the pace - 18th and 19th respectively as Ferrari only used the Hard tyres throughout the session.

It is the penultimate Sprint weekend this season as F1 heads to Interlagos for the 2025 Sao Paulo Grand Prix as the three-way fight for the 2025 F1 Drivers' Championship resumes between Verstappen, Norris, and Piastri.

Interlagos is a good hunting ground for Verstappen and his win there back in 2024 was the stuff of legends and he will definitely be looking to deliver a strong result hoping to close in more on the McLaren pair who have their own issues to worry about in addition to the chasing Dutchman.

Norris, now one point ahead of Piastri in the Championship, will be looking to increase that gap while the Australian will be looking to bounce back and respond after a series of recent struggles.

Ferrari have shown some recent form, will that continued this weekend in Brazil, a venue Hamilton enjoys and performs well in? What about Mercedes and Russell who took his maiden win in the top flight at Interlagos back in 2022?

As for the tyres, Pirelli has brought the: C2 (Hard), C3 (Medium), and C4 (Soft) this weekend.

Bortoleto will be racing for the first time in front of his home fans, so how will the Sauber rookie perform? He has shown some decent performances this season.

In terms of car upgrades, none of the teams revealed anything in their respective FIA car submission documents this weekend.

As usual expect the weather to be a major factor this weekend with rain expected on Saturday and Sunday which should make matters more spicy especially on a Sprint weekend.

The start of the session was delayed for five minutes as dry conditions prevailed over Interlagos with track temperatures at 35 degrees Celsius while air temperature was 19 degrees.

The delay was due to extra cleaning of the track due to some extra cleaning following the classic car parade earlier. Probably there was some dirt or oil on the track.

Antonelli lined up first at the pitlane exit waiting for the green light and was soon on his way with Russell following in the sister Mercedes.

No one would want to waste any time as this will be the only practice session this weekend with Sprint Qualifying following.

All the drivers without any exceptions started the session on the Hard tyres.

Tsunoda brought out the first Yellow flag of the weekend, running wide on the kerbs coming out of Turn 4 and ended up in the run-off area of Turn 5, his front left wheel hitting the barrier a bit as well as the back side.

He returned to the pitlane with a damaged front wing endplate.

Albon then reported that his brakes are "Very, very grabby" and that they felt "very strange".

Replay showed Verstappen having a similar moment on the kerbs at Turn 4, but unlike his teammate, he kept his car in control.

Antonelli then had a close moment when he came upon Hamilton and Bearman driving leisurely while he was on a push lap. The Italian wasn't amused saying: "Ah man, what are these idiots doing, honestly!"

Bearman, after that, had a moment, locking up into Turn 1 and radioed that his tyres were not ready.

With 40 minutes remaining, Tsunoda remained in the garage, his RB21 up on stands as the mechanics went on inspecting it for damage.

Gasly, on the other hand, seemed to be happy with his Alpine reporting his car felt more "alive" than ever, but admitting not knowing why that was the case.

Norris had a moment on the kerbs while Verstappen suffered a snap at Turn 4 and ran wide into the run-off area but kept going with no contact or damage.

Hadjar then had a moment with Piastri who impeded him, the Frenchman having to go off track to avoid contact.

Leclerc ran some flow vis on his rear wing which was of a higher downforce configuration than that on Hamilton's car as Ferrari seemed to be running comparisons.

Norris then complained about an Alpine blocking him while he was on a push lap.

With 25 minutes remaining, Red Bull Racing sent Tsunoda back out on track after repairing damage to both front and rear wings. The Japanese driver set out on the Soft tyres.

Verstappen and Russell were noted for impeding at Turn 6 but were cleared soon after that - 20 minutes from the end...

Then Piastri suffered a slide in the Senna esses but held it beautifully and kept going as if nothing happened.

With 15 minutes remaining, it was time for some qualifying runs as drivers made their way out on track with Medium tyres bolted on. This is the compound that mandated in the first two stages of Sprint Qualifying.

Sainz went briefly to the top.

Verstappen did a massive setup change on his RB21 and rejoined the action with less than five minutes remaining, but was on the Soft tyre.

He started a timed lap but aborted it and went back to the pits for a front wing adjustment and went back out again.

He didn't put another lap in and finished 17th while Hamilton suffered from a huge spin as his Ferrari bottomed out in Turn 11 while on aged Hard tyres. The Briton did not hit anything though.