2026 Sao Paulo GP FP2: Antonelli storms clear of Norris and Verstappen

Newly crowned Formula 1 world champion Kimi Antonelli delivered a commanding performance in second practice at Interlagos, beating Lando Norris and Max Verstappen as Ferrari struggled for pace and Charles Leclerc narrowly avoided a collision.

Kimi Antonelli laid down a significant marker at the 2026 São Paulo Grand Prix, putting Mercedes at the top of the timesheets in Free Practice 2 with the fastest lap of Friday’s running at Interlagos.

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The newly crowned Formula 1 world champion produced a stunning 1m 10.763s around the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, finishing 0.253s clear of McLaren’s Lando Norris and 0.259s ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

2026 Sao Paulo Grand FP2 Results

2026 Sao Paulo Grand Prix FP2, 6 November 2026

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	12	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	1:10.763	37
2	1	Lando Norris	McLaren	+0.253s	31
3	3	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	+0.259s	23
4	63	George Russell	Mercedes	+0.273s	35
5	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	+0.321s	32
6	44	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	+0.450s	35
7	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	+0.720s	33
8	5	Gabriel Bortoleto	Audi	+1.017s	33
9	6	Isack Hadjar	Red Bull Racing	+1.076s	33
10	87	Oliver Bearman	Haas F1 Team	+1.228s	36
11	43	Franco Colapinto	Alpine	+1.233s	33
12	41	Arvid Lindblad	Racing Bulls	+1.245s	36
13	30	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	+1.279s	36
14	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	+1.346s	37
15	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	+1.775s	34
16	51	Rafael Câmara	Haas F1 Team	+1.798s	30
17	55	Carlos Sainz	Williams	+1.979s	33
18	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	+2.179s	31
19	23	Alexander Albon	Williams	+2.190s	37
20	11	Sergio Perez	Cadillac	+2.553s	34
21	77	Valtteri Bottas	Cadillac	+2.620s	33

George Russell reinforced Mercedes’ strong pace by finishing fourth, just 0.273s behind his team-mate, while Oscar Piastri completed the top five for McLaren as the leading teams continued their preparations for the third-last round of the 2026 F1 World Championship.

After Norris had narrowly topped FP1 ahead of Antonelli by 0.082s, the Italian turned the tables in the afternoon session, establishing a more comfortable advantage as Mercedes emerged as the early benchmark heading into Saturday.

Friday’s second hour of practice began at 16:00 local time, with all 22 full-time drivers scheduled to return to their cars after six teams had handed over machinery to young and reserve drivers during FP1.

Charles Leclerc, Piastri, Pierre Gasly, Nico Hulkenberg, Carlos Sainz and Valtteri Bottas were among those keen to maximise their running after missing the opening session, particularly with overcast skies continuing to threaten changing weather conditions.

The field wasted little time heading onto the circuit, with Gasly among the first to complete a representative lap, setting a 1m 14.165s on Pirelli’s Hard compound.

Leclerc quickly lowered the benchmark by around six tenths using the grippier Medium tyre, but Antonelli soon demonstrated Mercedes’ speed with a 1m 11.857s, bringing lap times closer to those recorded during the morning’s opening practice session.

Weather uncertainty remained an important factor as drivers settled into their programmes. Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar reported that light drizzle appeared to be developing, although conditions remained sufficiently dry for teams to continue their planned running.

Ferrari, meanwhile, encountered early handling concerns, with Leclerc reporting a problem with his brakes and Lewis Hamilton struggling with grip after locking up under braking into Turn 1.

There was more serious frustration at Audi, where Hulkenberg remained confined to the garage as engineers investigated the technical problems that had already disrupted Freddie Slater’s FP1 appearance.

The German had been due to return to the cockpit after Slater’s interrupted session, but Audi eventually confirmed that Hulkenberg would take no part in FP2 as the team continued working on the car.

It left Hulkenberg without a single timed lap across Friday’s running, a significant setback ahead of the remaining practice session and qualifying on Saturday.

As much of the field returned to the garages to prepare for the next stage of their programmes, Hadjar took advantage of clear track space to complete a faster run on the Soft compound.

The Red Bull driver improved to second place, although he remained behind Antonelli despite the Mercedes driver having set his earlier benchmark on the harder Pirelli tyre.

With approximately 35 minutes remaining, Russell led the field back onto the circuit as teams began switching their attention towards qualifying simulations.

The Briton immediately found almost eight tenths of a second, posting a 1m 11.036s to move to the top of the leaderboard and briefly establish Mercedes as the team to beat.

However, the order changed rapidly as Norris and Verstappen completed their own flying laps, pushing Russell down to third despite an incredibly close battle between the three drivers.

Just 0.020s separated Norris, Verstappen and Russell, highlighting how little margin existed between McLaren, Red Bull and Mercedes over a single lap.

Antonelli then produced the decisive improvement of the session, becoming the first driver to break into the 1m 10s bracket with an outstanding 1m 10.763s.

The lap established a sizeable advantage over his closest challengers and underlined the 20-year-old’s confidence just days after becoming the youngest world champion in Formula 1 history at the Mexico City Grand Prix.

While Mercedes enjoyed a productive afternoon, Ferrari’s attempts to close the gap were complicated by a dramatic incident involving Leclerc and Haas rookie Rafael Camara.

The Monegasque was pushing to improve his lap time when he encountered Camara on the main straight, forcing him to take evasive action towards the wall to avoid contact.

Leclerc managed to escape without a collision, but the near-miss cost him valuable time during his flying lap.

His race engineer subsequently confirmed that the incident had added approximately 0.2s to his attempt, compounding an existing performance deficit of around two tenths to Mercedes.

The lost time left Leclerc seventh on the timesheets, adding to Ferrari’s frustrations after the team had also struggled with braking and tyre performance during the session.

As the final part of FP2 approached, teams turned their attention towards longer runs, gathering information on tyre behaviour and race pace ahead of Sunday’s Grand Prix.

With fewer drivers chasing outright lap times, Antonelli’s benchmark remained untouched through to the chequered flag, securing the Mercedes youngster his first session-topping performance of the weekend.

Norris held onto second place, 0.253s behind, while Verstappen finished third, only 0.006s slower than the McLaren driver.

Russell completed the leading quartet, just 0.014s behind Verstappen, although he faces a five-place grid penalty for an internal combustion engine change later in the weekend.

Piastri finished fifth, 0.321s away from Antonelli, giving McLaren both cars inside the top five and reinforcing the team’s competitive start to the São Paulo Grand Prix.

Hamilton ended the session sixth for Ferrari, but the seven-time world champion was far from satisfied after his tyre-related difficulties continued throughout the afternoon.

The Briton finished ahead of team-mate Leclerc, who had to settle for seventh following his high-speed scare with Camara and earlier braking concerns.

Home favourite Gabriel Bortoleto secured an encouraging eighth place for Audi, offering the team some consolation after Hulkenberg’s technical problems prevented him from completing any running.

Hadjar finished ninth in the second Red Bull, while Oliver Bearman rounded out the top 10 for Haas.

Franco Colapinto placed 11th for Alpine, ahead of the Racing Bulls pairing of Arvid Lindblad and Liam Lawson in 12th and 13th respectively.

Gasly finished 14th in the second Alpine, with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso taking 15th ahead of Brazilian rookie Camara.

The Haas driver ended his second official Formula 1 practice session in 16th place, continuing to gain experience in front of his home supporters after making his debut earlier in the day.

Sainz was 17th for Williams, followed by Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Williams team-mate Alex Albon in 18th and 19th.

Cadillac endured a difficult session, with Sergio Perez finishing 20th ahead of team-mate Bottas in 21st.

Hulkenberg completed the 22-driver classification without setting a lap time, leaving Audi facing a race against time to resolve its technical problems before Saturday’s running.

With one day of practice complete, the competitive picture at Interlagos appeared increasingly favourable for Mercedes, particularly after Antonelli’s commanding performance on the Soft tyre.

Norris remained firmly in contention after topping FP1 and finishing second in FP2, while Verstappen continued to show competitive one-lap pace despite the handling and steering concerns that had affected his opening session.

Ferrari, by contrast, faced a more complicated evening of analysis, with Hamilton struggling to extract performance from the tyres and Leclerc’s fastest attempt compromised by traffic.

For Antonelli, the fastest lap of Friday represented another statement performance in what has already become a historic season.

Having secured the drivers’ championship in Mexico City, the Italian now has an opportunity to build on his remarkable campaign without the pressure of a title battle, while Mercedes continues its pursuit of further success.

The teams will return to the circuit on Saturday for Free Practice 3 and qualifying, with the final practice hour offering one last opportunity to refine their setups before the fight for pole position at Interlagos.