Lando Norris got his 2025 São Paulo Grand Prix weekend off to the perfect start, topping the times in Friday’s single Free Practice 1 session ahead of McLaren team-mate and championship rival Oscar Piastri, as the fight for the 2025 F1 World Championship continues to tighten. In a Sprint weekend that offers no margin for error, the McLaren duo were separated by just 0.023s, with Kick Sauber’s Nico Hülkenberg a surprise third, only six-tenths adrift, after a lively hour of running at Interlagos.
What To Know
- Norris set fastest FP1 time: 1:09.975, just 0.023s ahead of Piastri.
- Yuki Tsunoda hit the wall early at Descida do Lago but returned to pits.
- Bortoleto impressed with P5 on home debut for Kick Sauber.
With the Sprint format returning for the fifth time this season, teams had only one hour to tune their cars before the all-important Sprint Qualifying later this afternoon. Unsurprisingly, there was an early rush as the pit exit light went green just after 11:30 a.m. local time, every driver bolting out on Pirelli’s hard compound tyres to maximise every second of track time. But the opening minutes brought immediate drama—Yuki Tsunoda lost control of his Red Bull through the Descida do Lago section, sliding into the barriers and damaging both ends of the car. Although he managed to crawl back to the pits, the incident left his mechanics scrambling for urgent repairs before qualifying.
Formula One History Recommends
-
2025 São Paulo GP Sprint Qualifying: Norris storms to pole in Brazil
-
-
2025 São Paulo GP Qualifying: Norris on poleas Verstappen suffers shock Q1 exit
-
Early benchmark times came from George Russell, who briefly led with a 1:11.188, edging four-time World Champion Max Verstappen before the timing screens began to light up green and purple. The narrow, undulating Interlagos layout proved tricky as traffic built—Kimi Antonelli, Isack Hadjar, Russell, and Norris all found themselves caught in congestion on the twisty infield. As the track rubbered in and teams switched to softer compounds, the pace climbed sharply. Norris ultimately set the session’s best lap of 1:09.975 on the medium tyres, while Piastri narrowly missed out on top spot by just a few hundredths of a second. Verstappen looked poised to challenge late in the session but abandoned his final soft-tyre push, leaving him well down the order.
Behind the leading McLarens, Hülkenberg impressed in third, showcasing strong one-lap pace for Kick Sauber, while home hero Gabriel Bortoleto delighted the crowd by securing fifth, split by Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin in fourth. Russell fell to sixth once the field switched to mediums, just over half a second behind Norris, followed by Carlos Sainz, rookie Hadjar, Antonelli, and Liam Lawson, who rounded out the top ten for Racing Bulls.
Alex Albon was 12th for Williams, ahead of the Haas pair of Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman, while Lance Stroll, newly re-signed Alpine driver Franco Colapinto, and Verstappen followed. It was a subdued outing for Ferrari, with both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton choosing to stay on the hard tyre. Hamilton’s session ended with a spin exiting Mergulho, leaving the pair 18th and 19th respectively, ahead of only the recovering Tsunoda.
2025 São Paulo GP FP1 Results
2025 São Paulo Grand Prix FP1, 7 November 2025, from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm local time.
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Team | Time / Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1:09.975 | 30 |
| 2 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | +0.023s | 32 |
| 3 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Kick Sauber | +0.619s | 31 |
| 4 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | +0.631s | 25 |
| 5 | 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Kick Sauber | +0.641s | 31 |
| 6 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | +0.670s | 34 |
| 7 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | +0.706s | 32 |
| 8 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | +0.711s | 35 |
| 9 | 6 | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls | +0.732s | 30 |
| 10 | 12 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | +0.769s | 36 |
| 11 | 30 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | +0.819s | 35 |
| 12 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams | +0.832s | 34 |
| 13 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Haas F1 Team | +0.931s | 28 |
| 14 | 87 | Oliver Bearman | Haas F1 Team | +0.986s | 31 |
| 15 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | +1.095s | 30 |
| 16 | 43 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | +1.185s | 29 |
| 17 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing | +1.393s | 31 |
| 18 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +1.518s | 29 |
| 19 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | +1.551s | 28 |
| 20 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull Racing | +1.788s | 19 |
Race Guide
Season: 2025 F1 World Championship
Race weekend: 7 November 2025 – 9 November 2025
Race date: Sunday, 9 November 2025
Race start time: 14:00 local time
Circuit: Interlagos – Autodromo Jose Carlo Pace
Laps: 71
Circuit length: 4.309km
2024 winner: Max Verstappen
Seen in:
