Lewis Hamilton shattered the Interlagos track record in the first session of the weekend while Toro Rosso had a disastrous start to practice.
Rubens Barrichello’s 13–year-old track record fell before the session was even halfway over. Hamilton eventually lowered the best time to a 1’09.202, six tenths of a second inside the old benchmark, and a second-and-a-half inside his pole position time from last year.
But the Toro Rosso drivers never got to do any serious running. Pierre Gasly satopped after a handful of installation lap.
“Tough start of the weekend,” he said on social media. “Engine problem after one lap in FP1. Session is over for us.”
His team mate Brendon Hartley got no further. His STR12 expired in a huge cloud of smoke after just two laps. The team has already confirmed both drivers will take grid penalties for using new MGU-Ks this weekend, as will Daniel Ricciardo.
Sebastian Vettel was sixth fastest following a brief spin at turn nine early in the session. Felipe Massa was next, posting consistent quick lap times despite having a few lock-ups at turn one.
Despite complaining about poor drive-ability from his Honda engine, Stoffel Vandoorne posted the eighth-quickest time. Team mate Fernando Alonso joined him in the top ten, the pair separated by the Force India of Esteban Ocon.
Ocon’s team mate for the session was newcomer George Russell, who logged 29 laps on his F1 debut and ended up half a second slower than the team’s regular driver.
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Car | Best lap | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’09.202 | 36 | |
| 2 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1’09.329 | 0.127 | 43 |
| 3 | 7 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1’09.744 | 0.542 | 32 |
| 4 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-TAG Heuer | 1’09.750 | 0.548 | 31 |
| 5 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull-TAG Heuer | 1’09.828 | 0.626 | 38 |
| 6 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1’09.984 | 0.782 | 32 |
| 7 | 19 | Felipe Massa | Williams-Mercedes | 1’10.102 | 0.900 | 28 |
| 8 | 2 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren-Honda | 1’10.402 | 1.200 | 26 |
| 9 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Force India-Mercedes | 1’10.454 | 1.252 | 36 |
| 10 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren-Honda | 1’10.476 | 1.274 | 24 |
| 11 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Williams-Mercedes | 1’10.632 | 1.430 | 42 |
| 12 | 35 | George Russell | Force India-Mercedes | 1’11.047 | 1.845 | 29 |
| 13 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Haas-Ferrari | 1’11.188 | 1.986 | 29 |
| 14 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | 1’11.463 | 2.261 | 30 |
| 15 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Renault | 1’11.467 | 2.265 | 32 |
| 16 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 1’11.608 | 2.406 | 35 |
| 17 | 37 | Charles Leclerc | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’11.802 | 2.600 | 32 |
| 18 | 9 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’11.898 | 2.696 | 28 |
| 19 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1’14.034 | 4.832 | 5 |
| 20 | 28 | Brendon Hartley | Toro Rosso-Renault | 2 |
First practice visual gaps
Lewis Hamilton – 1’09.202
+0.127 Valtteri Bottas – 1’09.329
+0.542 Kimi Raikkonen – 1’09.744
+0.548 Max Verstappen – 1’09.750
+0.626 Daniel Ricciardo – 1’09.828
+0.782 Sebastian Vettel – 1’09.984
+0.900 Felipe Massa – 1’10.102
+1.200 Stoffel Vandoorne – 1’10.402
+1.252 Esteban Ocon – 1’10.454
+1.274 Fernando Alonso – 1’10.476
+1.430 Lance Stroll – 1’10.632
+1.845 George Russell – 1’11.047
+1.986 Romain Grosjean – 1’11.188
+2.261 Kevin Magnussen – 1’11.463
+2.265 Carlos Sainz Jnr – 1’11.467
+2.406 Nico Hulkenberg – 1’11.608
+2.600 Charles Leclerc – 1’11.802
+2.696 Marcus Ericsson – 1’11.898
+4.832 Pierre Gasly – 1’14.034
Drivers more then ten seconds off the pace omitted.
| Driver | Team | Best super-soft time | Super-soft gap | Best soft time | Soft gap | Best medium time | Medium gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’09.202 | 1’09.445 | 1’31.881 | 9.945 | ||
| Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1’09.329 | 0.127 | 1’09.681 | 0.236 | None | |
| Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1’09.828 | 0.626 | 1’10.373 | 0.928 | 3’33.096 | 131.16 |
| Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1’09.750 | 0.548 | None | None | ||
| Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1’09.984 | 0.782 | None | 3’40.096 | 138.16 | |
| Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1’09.744 | 0.542 | None | 4’02.096 | 160.16 | |
| George Russell | Force India | 1’11.047 | 1.845 | 1’12.340 | 2.895 | 1’31.843 | 9.907 |
| Esteban Ocon | Force India | 1’10.454 | 1.252 | 1’11.045 | 1.6 | 1’24.723 | 2.787 |
| Felipe Massa | Williams | 1’10.102 | 0.9 | None | 5’43.096 | 261.16 | |
| Lance Stroll | Williams | 1’10.632 | 1.43 | None | 5’04.096 | 222.16 | |
| Fernando Alonso | McLaren | 1’10.476 | 1.274 | None | None | ||
| Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren | 1’10.402 | 1.2 | None | 1’21.936 | ||
| Brendon Hartley | Toro Rosso | None | None | 4’55.096 | 213.16 | ||
| Pierre Gasly | Toro Rosso | None | 1’14.034 | 4.589 | 4’35.096 | 193.16 | |
| Romain Grosjean | Haas | 1’11.188 | 1.986 | 1’12.273 | 2.828 | None | |
| Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 1’11.463 | 2.261 | 1’12.091 | 2.646 | None | |
| Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 1’11.608 | 2.406 | None | 5’23.096 | 241.16 | |
| Carlos Sainz Jnr | Renault | 1’11.467 | 2.265 | None | 5’42.096 | 260.16 | |
| Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | 1’11.898 | 2.696 | None | None | ||
| Charles Leclerc | Sauber | 1’11.802 | 2.6 | None | None |
2017 Brazilian Grand Prix
- 2017 Brazilian Grand Prix Predictions Championship results
- 2017 Brazilian Grand Prix team radio transcript
- 2017 Brazilian Grand Prix Star Performers
- 21 podiums without a win: Raikkonen extends his record
- “We lost it in the start”: Brazilian GP team radio highlights
BaKano (@bakano)
10th November 2017, 13:54
What is going with the Renault engines on the Toro Rossos? It is fact that Renault reliability is no good but lately it seems that in the Toro Rossos they just seem to work at all!
Hugh (@hugh11)
10th November 2017, 14:10
Honda is haunting them even before they’ve got their engines.
BaKano (@bakano)
10th November 2017, 14:12
@hugh11 LOL
It is true that reliability seems to have degraded once they announced moving to Honda!
BaKano (@bakano)
10th November 2017, 14:10
made a mistake: last sentence should be “they just seem to NOT work at all”
Monsterc1 (@monsterc1)
10th November 2017, 14:14
@bakano I hear Renault wants to beat Toro Rosso in the constructor standings. Not saying they are doing anything but it vary convenient.
anon
10th November 2017, 18:25
@monsterc1, the Renault works team have had more retirements in races due to mechanical problems than Toro Rosso have had since the announcement by Toro Rosso to switch to Honda was announced – Renault had engine failures in Singapore and the US, plus an ERS failure in Mexico, whilst Toro Rosso have had one engine failure in Mexico and one electrical failure of unspecified origin in Malaysia.
Renault might want to beat Toro Rosso in the constructors standings, but with Renault’s worse reliability they seem to be handicapping themselves rather than their customers.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
10th November 2017, 14:18
Just training them for 2018
Phylyp (@phylyp)
10th November 2017, 14:19
Tomorrow – lessons from Alonso to the Toro Rosso young-uns on how to properly recline in a deckchair.
Ashwin (@redbullf1)
10th November 2017, 15:09
In the mean time they are listening in to Alonso’s radio compilations on youtube ! Gotta be ready !
Ju88sy (@)
10th November 2017, 14:39
It’s unbelievable, I haven’t tracked down the PU component usage chart – but the Toro Rosso car Hartley is driving must be close to being the worst car on the grid.
BaKano (@bakano)
10th November 2017, 15:05
@ju88sy
It is true that it looks bad, considering the last 2 GPs, but not as bad as Vandoorne’s car as you can see here: https://maxf1.net/en/power-unit-elements-use-2017/
Ju88sy (@)
11th November 2017, 10:57
@bakano Thanks – truly horrific for the Honda PU, it would be a step forward if they end 2018 with the current reliability of the Renault PU in the Toro Rosso!
Patrickl (@patrickl)
10th November 2017, 17:56
Maybe they are using components with high mileage for practice sessions?
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
10th November 2017, 14:30
Well, on the base of it, this just summs up 2017, Mercedes far ahead,
Patrickl (@patrickl)
10th November 2017, 17:58
@jureo Ferrari have had the fastest car for most races. They just manage to throw it all away way too often. Too many driver errors and bad judgement calls. Even Ferrari acknowledge this.
digitalrurouni
10th November 2017, 14:41
Good god these cars are fast! The drivers’ necks are gonna get a heck of a workout this weekend! At least a second lower i expect qualifying times to be.