Lando Norris Tops Brazilian GP Practice Session

Lando Norris lit up Interlagos in first practice for the Brazilian Grand Prix, topping a tightly packed session that left the sport’s four powerhouse teams separated by mere tenths.

The McLaren driver punched in a 1m11.717s on soft tyres, edging Mercedes prodigy Kimi Antonelli by just 0.082s. Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton followed, two and three tenths back, in a classification that hinted at a weekend of fine margins rather than outright dominance.

Norris sharp, Antonelli announces himself

Norris looked immediately at ease around the old rollercoaster of Interlagos, stringing together a lap that blended commitment through the Senna S with confidence in the middle sector. His reward: P1, and a marker laid down to every major rival.

Just behind him, Antonelli delivered the kind of session that will only fuel the hype. The Mercedes youngster, still learning the rhythms of a full grand prix weekend, was the only driver within a tenth of Norris, his 1m11.799s underlining both his raw pace and Mercedes’ underlying speed on low fuel.

George Russell backed that up in fifth, 0.386s off Norris, giving Mercedes the look of a team ready to mix it at the front rather than watch from a distance.

Verstappen quick, but furious

Verstappen ended the session third with a 1m11.953s, but the stopwatch told only half the story. Inside the cockpit of the Red Bull RB22, frustration boiled over.

“Unacceptable, man. Unacceptable, these downshifts. What the ****?” he snapped over team radio, the long-running gearbox complaint resurfacing almost as soon as his push laps began. Later, a new concern crept in: “There’s something wrong with my steering. It’s getting harder and harder to turn the wheel.”

Red Bull still had two cars in the top six, with Isack Hadjar an impressive sixth, but Verstappen’s radio traffic made it clear that the world champion was fighting the car as much as the circuit.

Hamilton in touch as top teams bunch up

Hamilton, now in Ferrari red, slotted into fourth with a 1m12.041s, three tenths away from Norris but very much in the mix. The seven-time champion looked solid rather than spectacular, yet the gap to McLaren, Mercedes and Red Bull suggested that none of the big four had found a decisive edge in FP1.

Behind Hamilton and Russell, Hadjar’s sixth place kept Red Bull’s second car near the sharp end, while the midfield compressed behind them in a flurry of soft-tyre runs.

Rookies everywhere – and one home debut to savour

If the front of the field looked familiar, the rest of the timing screen did not. FP1 was flooded with rookies and test drivers, and they left clear fingerprints on the session.

The standout was Alpine’s Gabriele Minì. The Italian rookie muscled his way into seventh with a 1m12.569s, outpacing team-mate Franco Colapinto by 0.085s and planting Alpine firmly inside the top 10. Colapinto’s 1m12.654s was still good enough for ninth, with only Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto splitting the pair in eighth.

Home fans had their own story to follow. Rafael Câmara, already signed as Haas’ 2027 race driver, made his early F1 debut on Brazilian soil in place of Esteban Ocon after the Frenchman’s fallout with the team. The Formula 2 championship leader finished 18th, nearly nine tenths slower than Oliver Bearman in the sister Haas, but his priority was mileage and experience rather than a headline time.

Elsewhere, McLaren’s Leonardo Fornaroli took 11th, just over a second off Norris, while Williams prospect Luke Browning ended up 17th, 0.080s behind Alex Albon in the other FW46. Albon’s running was hampered by a mechanical issue, which limited his opportunity to respond.

At Cadillac, Colton Herta quietly ticked off an important box. His 20th place, 2.558s off Norris and 0.904s slower than team-mate Valtteri Bottas, mattered less than the fact his session ran largely trouble-free, aside from a huge lock-up into Turn 1. That should earn him the final point needed for an FIA superlicence, clearing the way for a potential 2027 F1 seat if Cadillac decide to promote him.

Technical trouble for Beganovic and Slater

Not every rookie enjoyed a clean run. Ferrari’s Dino Beganovic and Audi’s Freddie Slater propped up the timesheets after technical problems ruined their sessions.

Slater’s Audi shut down just 12 minutes into FP1, triggering a red flag and confining him to only seven laps. “The car has just switched off,” he reported, his best time a 1m14.966s on hard tyres, 3.249s off Norris.

Beganovic fared slightly better on mileage with 11 laps, but he too never got a proper soft-tyre run in, ending up 21st with a 1m14.357s on hards.

Interlagos bites early

Turn 1 told its own story. Heavy lock-ups were a recurring theme, catching out veterans and newcomers alike as they pushed the braking limits into the Senna S. The combination of a green track, changing wind and the compressed format of a modern F1 weekend forced drivers to find the edge quickly – sometimes too quickly.

Yet when the chequered flag fell on FP1, the headline was simple: four teams, four star names, and less than four tenths covering them. Norris on top, Antonelli right there with him, Verstappen angry but fast, Hamilton lurking.

If this was only the opening act, Interlagos might be gearing up for one of those weekends it’s famous for – the kind that can tilt a season.