2026 Sao Paulo GP FP1: Norris edges new F1 champion Antonelli

Lando Norris made the perfect start to his São Paulo Grand Prix weekend, beating newly crowned world champion Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen in an eventful opening practice session featuring rookie debuts, a red flag and several technical setbacks.

Lando Norris topped the opening practice session for the 2026 São Paulo Grand Prix, putting McLaren ahead of Mercedes and Red Bull as Formula 1 returned to Interlagos for the first time since Kimi Antonelli secured his maiden world championship.

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The reigning champion produced a best lap of 1m 11.717s around the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, finishing just 0.082s clear of Antonelli, who arrived in Brazil fresh from becoming the youngest world champion in Formula 1 history.

2026 Sao Paulo Grand FP1 Results

2026 Sao Paulo Grand Prix FP1, 6 November 2026

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	1	Lando Norris	McLaren	1:11.717	33
2	12	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	+0.082s	32
3	3	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	+0.236s	29
4	44	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	+0.324s	31
5	63	George Russell	Mercedes	+0.386s	30
6	6	Isack Hadjar	Red Bull Racing	+0.439s	25
7	62	Gabriele Mini	Alpine	+0.852s	28
8	5	Gabriel Bortoleto	Audi	+0.897s	30
9	43	Franco Colapinto	Alpine	+0.937s	34
10	30	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	+0.998s	32
11	67	Leonardo Fornaroli	McLaren	+1.116s	28
12	87	Oliver Bearman	Haas F1 Team	+1.120s	27
13	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	+1.300s	26
14	41	Arvid Lindblad	Racing Bulls	+1.321s	32
15	77	Valtteri Bottas	Cadillac	+1.654s	16
16	23	Alexander Albon	Williams	+1.794s	18
17	46	Luke Browning	Williams	+1.874s	12
18	51	Rafael Câmara	Haas F1 Team	+1.979s	30
19	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	+2.043s	28
20	25	Colton Herta	Cadillac	+2.558s	31
21	38	Dino Beganovic	Ferrari	+2.640s	11
22	98	Freddie Slater	Audi	+3.249s	7

Max Verstappen, winner of the previous round in Mexico City, finished third for Red Bull, 0.236s behind Norris, although the Dutchman was left frustrated by handling and gearbox concerns during the opening hour.

Having won last year’s São Paulo Grand Prix, Norris immediately established himself as a contender for another strong weekend, while Antonelli began his first race event as the newly crowned champion of the 2026 F1 World Championship.

Six regular drivers also stepped aside to allow young and reserve drivers valuable track time, creating an unusually busy opening hour.

Among those taking part were reigning Formula 2 champion Leonardo Fornaroli, replacing Oscar Piastri at McLaren, and Formula 3 runner-up Freddie Slater, who took over Nico Hulkenberg’s Audi.

American Colton Herta also returned to the cockpit, replacing Sergio Perez at Cadillac as he continued his efforts to secure the final Super Licence point required to keep his hopes of joining the Formula 1 grid in 2027 alive.

Another major storyline was the appearance of Brazilian youngster Rafael Camara, who made his Formula 1 debut in front of his home supporters after receiving an early promotion to a Haas race seat.

Camara, already confirmed as a full-time Haas driver for 2027, was among the first to leave the pit lane when the session began at 16:00 local time, eager to maximise his preparation at the demanding Interlagos circuit.

With dry conditions greeting the drivers but rain remaining a potential threat, teams wasted little time getting onto the track as they looked to complete their programmes before the weather could change.

The lack of grip was immediately apparent, particularly at the heavy braking zone into Turn 1. Lance Stroll, Alex Albon, Lewis Hamilton and Herta all locked up and ran wide within the opening 10 minutes as drivers explored the limits of their cars.

The session was then interrupted by an early red flag when Slater came to a halt on the circuit, adding another frustrating setback for the young Briton.

His appearance in Mexico City the previous weekend had already been severely disrupted by reliability problems, and the latest stoppage further limited his opportunity to gain experience in Formula 1 machinery.

Once running resumed, Antonelli began to establish Mercedes’ pace, moving to the top of the timesheets approaching the 20-minute mark with a 1m 12.789s on Pirelli’s Medium compound.

The Italian quickly improved to a 1m 12.777s, demonstrating that his championship celebrations had done little to affect his competitiveness as he began the next chapter of his Formula 1 career.

Verstappen was the first of the leading contenders to switch to Soft tyres shortly before the halfway point, immediately lowering the benchmark to a 1m 11.953s.

However, the Red Bull driver was far from satisfied with the behaviour of his car, complaining over team radio that the downshifts were “unacceptable” as he struggled with the RB22’s handling.

Antonelli’s first qualifying-style attempt on the Soft compound ended in the Turn 1 run-off after he locked up under braking, but he recovered on his next effort to produce a 1m 11.799s.

That lap moved the Mercedes driver ahead of Verstappen, although it would not be enough to keep him at the top once Norris completed his fastest run.

George Russell also demonstrated competitive pace in the second Mercedes, although the Briton faced a difficult weekend after receiving a five-place grid penalty for an internal combustion engine change.

Russell was around three tenths slower than his team-mate at that stage and sat fourth behind Hamilton’s Ferrari as the leading teams continued their shorter runs.

Norris then delivered the decisive lap of the session, producing a 1m 11.717s to move 0.082s clear of Antonelli and establish McLaren as the early benchmark.

His improvement came just as Albon encountered a significant problem with his Williams, pulling off the circuit with approximately 20 minutes remaining after suffering a loss of power steering. It brought the Thai driver’s running to a premature conclusion.

The closing stages saw teams increasingly turn their attention towards longer runs and race simulations rather than outright lap times, leaving Norris’ benchmark unbeaten at the chequered flag.

Antonelli remained second ahead of Verstappen, whose frustration continued as he reported that his steering was becoming progressively harder to turn.

Hamilton finished fourth for Ferrari, 0.324s behind Norris, while Russell completed the top five, 0.386s away from the McLaren.

Isack Hadjar took sixth place in the second Red Bull, giving the team two cars inside the top six despite Verstappen’s complaints about the performance and handling of his machinery.

One of the standout performances came from Alpine rookie Gabriele Mini, who finished an impressive seventh while deputising for Pierre Gasly.

The Italian showed encouraging pace during his limited opportunity in the car, finishing ahead of home favourite Gabriel Bortoleto, who placed eighth for Audi.

Franco Colapinto took ninth in the second Alpine, while Liam Lawson completed the top 10 for Racing Bulls.

Fornaroli was 11th in Piastri’s McLaren, ahead of Oliver Bearman in the first Haas and Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin.

Racing Bulls driver Arvid Lindblad finished 14th, followed by Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas in 15th.

Albon was classified 16th after his power steering failure, with Williams reserve driver Luke Browning, replacing Carlos Sainz, finishing 17th.

Camara completed his first official Formula 1 practice session in 18th for Haas, gaining important experience in front of his home crowd ahead of his full-time arrival on the grid next season.

Stroll was 19th for Aston Martin, with Herta rounding out the top 20 as he continued his preparations for a potential future Formula 1 race seat.

Ferrari reserve Dino Beganovic, driving Charles Leclerc’s car, endured a disrupted session after technical concerns forced the team to remove the floor of his SF-26 for part of the hour.

The interruption left Beganovic 21st, while Slater completed the 22-driver classification after his earlier stoppage.

With Norris fastest, Antonelli close behind and Verstappen dealing with technical concerns, the opening session provided an intriguing first indication of the competitive order at Interlagos.

McLaren will take encouragement from Norris’ performance as the Briton looks to repeat his 2025 victory, while Mercedes showed that its newly crowned world champion remains firmly in contention at the front.

For Red Bull, the priority will be understanding Verstappen’s gearbox and steering complaints before the competitive action begins tomorrow.