2026 F1 São Paulo Grand Prix: Antonelli Leads in Challenging Conditions

Fog, a new champion and a puzzle the size of São Paulo. Free Practice 3 is about to throw the 2026 F1 São Paulo Grand Prix wide open.

Antonelli sets the tone

On Friday, Kimi Antonelli looked every bit the freshly crowned world champion. Calm hands, light touch, heavy impact. In a murky, fog-laced FP2, the Mercedes driver simply drove away from the rest, quickest and seemingly unbothered by the conditions.

It wasn’t wild. It was controlled. That’s what will worry the others.

Weather turns the screw

Now comes the real test. With rain expected to creep into qualifying, this final practice session is no gentle warm-up. Every team faces the same headache: how much do you gamble on a wet set-up for Saturday, and how much do you protect race pace for Sunday?

Run too much in the dry and you risk being lost when the clouds burst. Chase a wet configuration and you might compromise the Grand Prix itself. Engineers will earn their money in this hour.

Fine margins in Brazil

Interlagos has never been kind to indecision. The track evolves quickly, the weather even faster. One mistimed run, one wrong tyre call, and a front-row bid can evaporate in the Brazilian humidity.

As FP3 unfolds, the timing screens will tell one story – the raw pace. The garages will tell another, as teams juggle programmes, fuel loads and tyre choices, trying to decode a qualifying session that might be soaked, dry, or both within minutes.

Antonelli arrives as the benchmark, Mercedes with the target on their backs. Everyone else chases not just lap time, but clarity.

In São Paulo, on a Saturday like this, clarity might be the rarest commodity of all.