This session has finished. No further updates will be posted.
That concludes our coverage of the only practice session this weekend. Read our report here. Sprint race qualifying is coming up next in just under three hours’ time.
Leclerc was unable to practice his run into the pit lane at the end of the session: “Some people are sleeping. I couldn’t practice pit entry, they weren’t pushing.”
Norris takes the fastest first sector time off Albon and goes quickest of all, 1’10.610, the best part of two-tenths of a second up on Russell. Bearman an impressive third for Haas.
Hamilton, 15th, is the only driver yet to run the softs. Verstappen does a run and takes that place off him.
Almost everyone on softs now including Perez, who loses a lot of time in the middle of the lap and is only 16th after that run, a second off the pace.
A more competitive time from Norris, four-hundredths off Russell, puts him third, Bearman between them. Leclerc improves to sixth.
Lawson takes fifth, Piastri a low-key sixth for McLaren after three personal best sectors. Norris lapping now.
Leclerc reports “really poor grip in the first three corners.”
Alexander Albon goes quickest on the first sector on a set of softs, two-tenths quicker than Sainz. Bearman goes second with a 1’10.805, Albon slots in a tenth of a second behind him and Sainz only manages fourth.
Franco Colapinto underlines the extra pace available on softs as the track cleans up with a 1’11.619 for second place. The Ferraris out on softs now, Piastri too.
McLaren haven’t figured in this session so far, both drivers well outside of the top 10.
Russell switches to the softs and makes a significant improvement, going fastest by almost a second with a lap of 1’10.791. He reports “weird bouncing through turn nine [Pinheirinho].”
Pierre Gasly is an exception, going up to sixth place on his mediums, three-tenths of a second off Verstappen.
The tyres are clearly taking a hammering, few improvements of note for a while now. Hamilton had a scruffy lap and a brief hold-up behind Norris.
Verstappen continues to head the times but he now has both Mercedes within a tenth of a second of him, Lewis Hamilton second, 0.042s off the Red Bull. “Ride quality is still bad,” Hamilton reports.
Liam Lawson goes up to fifth with a 1’12.304 on softs. Another new track for him to learn this weekend.
The FIA has now confirmed Red Bull have fitted a sixth different engine to Verstappen’s car, which will mean he starts Sunday’s grand prix with a five-place grid drop.
Perez does the quickest middle sector time but pits. The RB drivers are trying out the soft tyres, everyone else on mediums.
Verstappen now lowers the best to a 1’11.712, less than a tenth of a second quicker than Russell. Hamilton, on a slow lap, catches Sainz and makes a bit of a performance about being held up by the Ferrari going through Juncao.
Russell takes over at the top with a 1’11.806, almost three-tenths of a second up on Perez. Given the state of the track, we’re likely to see rapid improvements.
Charles Leclerc goes sixth but is unhappy with Stroll getting in his way.
Sergio Perez sets the fastest time initially with a 1’12.099. Russell is second but says he’s experiencing a lot of bottoming.
Russell: “I think we’re going to have to box and raise the car.” He knows the importance of not going too low on ride height after his Spa disqualification – and getting that right on a sprint race weekend is specially important.
Russell: “Very bumpy coming out of the pit lane.” Then he adds: “Track feels bumpy. Very bumpy. Lots of sparks.”
The first cars head out and the back straights looks rather bumpy despite the new surface. Piastri confirms: “It’s quite bumpy.”
Track temperature already a toasty 53C. Interlagos has been fully resurfaced since F1 last visited.
The risk of rain in this session is zero percent, but there is a good chance we’ll see more later in the weekend, potentially even in this afternoon qualifying session for the sprint race.
As this is the third race weekend in a row most teams don’t have any updates. There are two exceptions: Sauber and McLaren, the latter potentially a significant development in the championship fight. Here’s what’s new on their drivers’ cars.
Good news from Aston Martin, meanwhile. Fernando Alonso hasn’t been well and missed pre-race activities at the track yesterday, but he is well enough to drive in this session. Disappointment for the team’s reserve driver Felipe Drugovich, though, who might have had the chance to make his debut at home.
We’ve already had one change in the driver line-up for this weekend. Kevin Magnussen is unwell so Oliver Bearman has taken over today. This means he will also do the sprint race tomorrow, but Magnussen could take over his car again afterwards if he is well enough. More here.
First practice for the 2024 Brazilian Grand Prix is coming up next.
2024 Brazilian Grand Prix
- “I didn’t really want to come back” – Hamilton explains cryptic Brazil radio message
- Ocon’s role in Gasly’s Q2 exit was almost another ‘flare-up’ at Alpine – Oakes
- Interlagos must improve “very bad” new track surface for 2025, say F1 drivers
- “That’s how we silence them”: Verstappen’s stunning Brazil win from start to finish
- Verstappen now has as many wins as F1’s first six world champions combined
