Max Verstappen was fastest in third practice ahead of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix; the Red Bull driver set a 16.622, putting himself a quarter of a tenth faster than Kimi Antonelli. Verstappen set his fastest time towards the end of the session to move ahead of the new world champion and Lando Norris, who was just over a tenth further behind.
Norris split the two Mercedes as he put his McLaren just over half a tenth ahead of George Russell. However, Verstappen and the Ferrari duo of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton have been given grid penalties for fresh engine components, with the Red Bull driver starting last after taking three new components, while both Ferraris have a ten-place drop for a new ICE.
Verstappen, Hamilton, Russell and Leclerc are in a close fight for second place in the Drivers’ Championship and are separated by just sixteen points in the standings with four races to go. These penalties make Antonelli and Norris the favourites for pole; McLaren’s upgrades this weekend appear to have given the team a boost in performance.
Russell was fourth quickest and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc had much stronger pace compared to Friday, after making significant changes to his car’s setup, and was just two and three quarters of a tenth off the pace. Despite the power unit change, an issue limited Hamilton to seven laps, leaving him in twelfth, over a second off Verstappen.
The seven-time champion had initially complained about engine vibrations, and later, his engine started smoking, which brought his session to an early end. Oscar Piastri completed the top four teams as the McLaren driver put himself four hundredths behind Leclerc as he went a tenth and a quarter faster than the Racing Bull’s.
Piastri appeared to struggle in the second half of the season but has an opportunity to start high up the grid with all of the penalties for his rivals, and he was sixth in final practice.
Arvid Lindblad was a tenth faster than teammate Liam Lawson, while the sister Red Bull of Isack Hadjar was four hundredths further behind. Gabriel Bortoleto continued his strong weekend as he put his Audi tenth but was four tenths off the Frenchman as he set the same time as Pierre Gasly.
Nico Hulkenberg ended his only practice session of the weekend after a technical issue meant he didn’t run in FP1 in thirteenth. The Audi driver was three hundredths behind Hamilton as he went six hundredths ahead of Franco Colapinto.
Bortoleto’s fellow Brazilian Rafael Camera was fifteenth, around half a tenth behind Colapinto, who heads into his de facto home Grand Prix. Camera was a tenth and a quarter faster than his Haas teammate Ollie Bearman for the first time this weekend.
Camara is making his F1 debut in Brazil after Haas announced Esteban Ocon will not drive for the team in the remaining races after a dispute week in Mexico. Haas are yet to announce who will drive in the final rounds in Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi, or at Imola if the latter two are cancelled.
Alex Albon was a quarter of a tenth ahead of Fernando Alonso, with the Aston Martin splitting the Williams as he went over a tenth faster than fellow Spaniard Fernando Alonso.
The two Cadillacs were a second ahead of Lance Stroll, with Sergio Perez almost a tenth and a half ahead of teammate Valtteri Bottas.
