Brazil – EL1: Norris tops the timesheets, Bearman 3rd

Who says sprint weekend says first unusual free practice session. The idea is not simply to change tires and get your bearings, but to do all this while preparing for the fast lap exercise without forgetting to take some information on average relays, in the absence of free practice 2 and 3. In this respect, the classification of the session does not mean much, apart from the symbolism of seeing Lando Norris start his Brazilian weekend on the right foot when his rival for the title Max Verstappen will have to serve a five-place grid penalty on Sunday.

Not all drivers used the soft rubber. While George Russell set the second fastest time, his teammate Lewis Hamilton has never left its yellow rubber, for example. Despite the good performance displayed by the brand with the star, the two home drivers complained of bad sensations on board, cursing in fact against an untimely rebound, Hamilton even seeming to suffer in his body. Note the symbolic 3rd place of Oliver Bearman, last minute replacement of a Kevin Magnussen sick and who will evolve in the VF-24 during the sprint.

Among the lessons to be learned, we observe that McLaren is in the running. Max Verstappen too, contrary to what his 15th place suggests. The Dutchman in fact cut his effort on the gong while he was on time to sign a top 3 at the end of the second sector. Difficult to know exactly who has the upper hand at the start of the weekend, especially given the always tiny gaps at Interlagos.

With a single free practice session held, the teams also worked on the long runs on the medium tyre, in preparation for the sprint but also for the Grand Prix on Sunday. In the game of time comparisons, the Ferrari de Charles Leclerc was faster than the Red Bull Max Verstappen's and Lando Noris' McLaren if we rely on the time average covering the twenty laps covered on the same train, without knowing however the quantity of fuel carried by each.

The two Maranello single-seaters were however less brilliant in the fast lap exercise, being regardless of the rubber used in EL1 at around 3/10ths of the reference time each time. Enough to promise difficult qualifying but positive races? Note the interesting 5th place of Alex Albon, and the 10th of Pierre Gasly Alpine, With a Esteban Ocon 18th, when Liam Lawson finished his session just ahead Yuki tsunoda. Meet at 19:30 p.m. for the sprint qualification.

FP1 CLASSIFICATION

Played, Ollie 👏#F1 #BrazilGP pic.twitter.com/GOxaw27eGU

— Formula 1 (@F1) November 1, 2024

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