Carlos Sainz led his Ferrari team mate Charles Leclerc as the Spaniard went fastest in the first, and only, practice session in Brazil. George Russell, returning to the scene of his first Grand Prix win last year, rounded out the top three in FP1.
With practice time limited over the Sprint weekend, there are several unknowns ahead of qualifying at Interlagos later today. Both Red Bulls didn’t carry out any soft tyre runs – opting to stick to hards throughout the session – with Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez 16th and 18th respectively in the FP1 standings.
FP1: Sainz leads Leclerc and Russell as Sprint weekend gets underway in Sao Paolo
Both McLaren drivers propped up the standings with Lando Norris in 19th and Oscar Piastri in 20th, but they had showed promising pace, with Piastri setting purple times on the softs before the rookie pitted prior to the end of his push lap.
With teams looking to save up tyres where possible ahead of a packed schedule, there’s plenty of intrigue for the rest of the Sao Paulo GP weekend, with qualifying at 1500 local time today.
Click play on the video above to watch the highlights from FP1.
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