2026 Formula 1 Sao Paulo GP
F1 Brazilian GP: Follow FP1 at Interlagos with live timing
Updates from the opening practice session at Formula 1's Brazilian Grand Prix
Live Text
Verstappen now back out on softs - he's the only driver to have done any serious running on those so far. Fornaroli did a handful of single-lap runs on that compound earlier but he was doing aero evaluation runs.
Antonelli goes to the top of the leaderboard with a 1m12.789s, using the same set of mediums he was rolling on before the stoppage.
No further investigation on Herta - he was being looked at for not pitting promptly under the red flag, but replays show he was passing the pit entry when the session was halted.
And the session is back under way with 40 minutes left on the clock.
Colton Herta 'Noted' for a red flag infringement.
It appears that our live timing widget has gone the way of Slater's Audi. Tech support is looking into it.
Today's drinking game, by the way, is to have two fingers of the beverage of your choice every time someone in TV commentary pronounces Turn 12 (Juncao) to rhyme with "young cow".
DRAPEAU ROUGE
Session has been stopped because Freddie Slater's Audi had coughed its last between Turn 9 (Pinheirinho) and Turn 10 (Bico de Pato).
Colton Herta, Lance Stroll and Alex Albon suffering separate lock-ups into Turn 1 - judging by the ugly noise accompanying the in-car footage, bottoming out on a bump played a role in all of them.
Lewis Hamilton was quickest on 1m13.298s, set with hard Pirellis, but he's quickly been surpassed by a 1m13.044s set by Kimi Antonelli on mediums, then Max Verstappen with a 1m12.959s – the Porsche fraction! – on hards.
Early days yet, of course, under a cloudy sky with rain threatening.
And we're rolling. Dino Beganovic (Ferrari), Leonardo Fornaroli (McLaren), Gabriele Mini (Alpine), Freddie Slater (Audi), Colton Herta (Cadillac), Luke Browning (Williams) are the rookies – apart from Rafael Camara, of course.
Beganovic has just had a near shunt on his out-lap, nearly running into the back of Bearman's Haas while preoccupied fiddling with steering wheel settings.
Fortunately this weekend we're likely to see an end to the tedious saga of Colton Herta's superlicence qualification...
LOOK WHO'S HERE
Well, he does own a coffee plantation somewhere nearby.
Bernie Ecclestone
Photo by: James Sutton / Formula 1 / Formula Motorsport Ltd via Getty Images
We should also point out, as this author was reminded by one of the commenters on Autosport's YouTube channel, that Rafa's surname is pronounced with the emphasis on the first syllable. So not like ex-footballer, TV pundit and short-lived Masked Singer contestant Chris Kamara...
In other news, Alan Permane - nicknamed 'Bat' in the F1 paddock - has renewed his deal to stay at Racing Bulls. No doubt for long enough that they'll have gone through at least two more corporate identities before he's next up for renewal.
Here's a guessing game for you: which eminent F1 journalist lives on the same street as 'Bat'?
By: Stuart Codling
