Lando Norris Tops First and Last Free Practice of Sao Paulo

Chasing the title, Lando Norris set the record for the first and last free practice competitions in Sao Paulo ahead of George Russell and Haas reserve Oliver Bearman. Oscar Piastri from McLaren came in fourth.

During the final laps of FP1, Piastri was closely following his teammate and maintained his position but will incur a five position grid penalty in Sunday’s Race.

1. Lando Norris

Norris of McLaren is second behind Oscar Piastri in Interlagos while Williams have Alex Albon in sixth place. Sainz is seventh with his Ferrari brand and last month’s title winner Max Verstappen settled for fifteenth and red bull team.

In order to Sta in the title chase, Norris needs to secure first place this week. He is currently forty seven points place behind Verstappen however the change in policy means a Honda victory at the sprint means he is able to shrink that distance during the upcoming four clashes. expect to see two drivers closer to each other on Sunday and avoid each other when over taking.

2. George Russell

George Russell had a tough time in FP1 due to the bouncing in the car but still managed to beat McLaren’s Lando Norris by over two tenths and finished ahead of Haas subste Oliver Bearman.

It is a great start for the weekend for Russell who is making a full time debut at the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace. The British racer managed to be the fastest runner on Medium tyres being a little over a tenth off pace-setter Carlos Sainz. He was also the highest placed tyre runner on his final run. 3. Oliver Bearman The practice session five started with a rather confused timesheet as the sprint race weekend progressed in Sao Paulo. Lando Norris a McLaren driver was leading the times before being beaten by George Russell, and then by Haas’s reserve Oliver Bearman. The Briton aged 19 has come in for Kevin Magnussen during free practice and the rest of this weekend. He filled in for the Dane at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix as he looks to gain experience ahead of his debut with Haas in 2025. Fourth was Williams’ Alex Albon who was followed by the two Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz positioned seventh and eighth respectively. 4. Alex Albon Alexander Albon, more commonly referred to as Alex Albon, is from a Thai family. He was born on March 23, 1996 in London, England. Albon is a Formula One driver with Williams, having previously raced for teams like Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso. The Williams driver made his name as a wheel to wheel racer, but had difficulty making the transition to a F1 top team. This year, he joined the team on a multi year contract along with fellow junior Logan Sargeant.

The first free practice session of the weekend saw a number of juniors head out, including Oliver Bearman and Zhou Guanyu for Haas (who were in for Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg respectively). The two ended up in second and third after Norris and Russell with the top four chequered 0.309s apart.

5. Charles Leclerc

Following an incident-filled race in Mexico where Verstappen was handed a penalty, Norris managed to get a good jump on his teammate in order to reduce the margin, but lost control at the Variante Alta during his first run on the soft rubber.

Haas driver Oliver Bearman who had to step in for the sick Kevin Magnussen then divided the Mclaren pair. The British driver stayed in fourth position while Piastri finished ninth in his Williams. Those times sorted the order before a vital hour came where drivers were able to get the finishing adjustments done on their cars. But going into the Sprint Qualifying session lined up for 6pm, everyone’s position was still a huge mystery.

6. Carlos Sainz

With the weekend starting, only one free practice session was available, therefore a mix of strategies emerged. Norris was first on the time table with Russell in second and McLaren driver Oscar Piastri in third.

Oliver Bearman surprised everyone for Haas as he subbed for the sick Kevin Magnussen in P3. He was just 0.051s off from Max Verstappen’s Red Bull. Additionally, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Williams’ Alex Albon completed the final five. They all completed the soft tire assignment. It can be important for the race.

7. Max Verstappen

After being condemned to a double penalty for squeezing his McLaren partner in wheel combat during Mexico City, Verstappen proved that he will stay put this weekend, or rather he will not change his aggressive behavior. On the flip side, he did receive a grid penalty for Sunday’s race.

While McLaren’s Oscar Piastri came second in the race, hiding from the attacks from Lando Norris. However, thanks to a brief Virtual Safety Car period and Verstappen’s quick closing lap, Piastri managed to finish in 3rd position when the race nearly ended. Instead, the two will be looking to fight for Q3’s last spot on the last day of the week.

8. Nico Hulkenberg

Now, after attaining all the necessary qualifications, Lando Norris, the driver for McLaren, is all set to commence the race from the first position. This is also the eighth pole of the British driver’s career and into the books.

He will in fact be taking advantage of a grid penalty handed down to Max Verstappen in the race hosted in Interlagos.

Ever since his first season in 2020 when the covid epidemic altered F1’s schedule, Norris has been a favorite among fans. He has also earned the nickname “Last Lap Lando”, in light of his ability to salvage a badly started race and stage a strong finish, as he did in the 2020 Austria GP.

9. Liam Lawson

Lawson will be looking to ride on the confidence from the Japanese GP. The Kiwi filled in for Ricciardo for 5 races last year and earned 2 points while doing well at MP Motorsport as well.

This weekend, he has a difficult task at Sao Paulo with McLaren teammate George Russell targeting him as well as Haas substitute, Oliver Bearman. He deals with losses courtesy of his father and the red bull racing family. The former Formula 2 driver hopes to join the Red Bull family as a full-time driver in 2025.

10. Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton did not have the best practice session ahead of the race at Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace. After each complaining about the ride of his W15, the seven-time champion managed to just reach SQ2 in sprint qualifying.

P5 was Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, while P4 was occupied by both Williams driver Alex Albon and Charles Leclec. Haas reserve driver Oliver Bearman, who is filling in for the ailing Kevin Magnusson, was second in the order of times, and Haas reserve driver Oliver Bearman, who is filling in for the ailing Kevin Magnusson, was second in the order of times behind McLaren’s P3 Owen McLaren and Norris.