F1 Brazilian GP: Verstappen edges out Antonelli to top FP3 as Hamilton hits mechanical trouble

Max Verstappen set the fastest time in Free Practice 3 at Formula 1’s Brazilian Grand Prix, narrowly edging out Kimi Antonelli as Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari suffered a mechanical issue.

The impending threat of rain meant all drivers rushed onto the track – especially Nico Hulkenberg, whose Audi suffered a terminal issue at the hands of rookie Freddie Slater in FP1, preventing him from partaking in the second session at all. These laps were therefore the German’s first this weekend.

Everyone focused on the medium tyre compound in the opening 40 minutes of the session, Kimi Antonelli fastest in 1m12.209s, leading Verstappen by 0.075s – despite the new world champion reporting a steering wheel problem, while the four-time title winner reported his steering was “heavy to the right”.

Charles Leclerc was third, 0.230s adrift, while George Russell, Liam Lawson and Oscar Piastri were half a second down on Antonelli. Lawson, who set the fastest time in sector three, was nearly 0.5s quicker than Racing Bulls team-mate Arvid Lindblad and almost one second faster than any other midfield driver.

Hamilton, who reported “strange vibrations” emanating from his new powertrain and “big engine braking”, was just eighth-fastest ahead of Hadjar, who described his RB22 as “close to undriveable”. The Ferrari man’s issue would later lead to “smoke in the cockpit” amid a worrying sound.

As the field switched to soft rubber, Verstappen narrowly edged out Antonelli to set the fastest time, with a 1m11.622s to the Mercedes driver’s 1m11.647s. Lando Norris hauled his McLaren up to third, 0.131s adrift, followed by Russell and Leclerc – meaning the four top teams lapped within 0.274s.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Photo by: Alastair Staley / LAT Images via Getty Images

This time, Lindblad was one tenth quicker than Lawson, with the pair again roughly half a second faster than Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly in the midfield. Hadjar also ended up behind both Racing Bulls in the classification, with a 0.591s deficit to pacesetter Verstappen.

Hamilton’s issue meant he was confined to the garage and performed no soft-tyre run, ending up 12th in the final results.

Debutant Rafael Camara was 15th-fastest, 0.128s quicker than team-mate Oliver Bearman.

Lance Stroll propped up the order after encountering a suspected ERS issue 15 minutes into the session, which proved terminal.

F1 Brazilian GP - FP3 results

FP3

All Stats

 

Cla	Driver	#		Chassis	Engine	Laps	Time	Interval	Tyres	km/h
1	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	3		Red Bull	Red Bull	19	1'11.622		S	216.587
2	A. Antonelli Mercedes	12		Mercedes	Mercedes	21	+0.025 1'11.647	0.025	S	216.511
3	L. Norris McLaren	1		McLaren	Mercedes	22	+0.131 1'11.753	0.106	S	216.191
4	G. Russell Mercedes	63		Mercedes	Mercedes	22	+0.184 1'11.806	0.053	S	216.032
5	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16		Ferrari	Ferrari	30	+0.274 1'11.896	0.090	S	215.761
6	O. Piastri McLaren	81		McLaren	Mercedes	20	+0.313 1'11.935	0.039	S	215.644
7	A. Lindblad Racing Bulls	41		RB	Red Bull	25	+0.438 1'12.060	0.125	S	215.270
8	L. Lawson Racing Bulls	30		RB	Red Bull	20	+0.549 1'12.171	0.111	S	214.939
9	I. Hadjar Red Bull Racing	6		Red Bull	Red Bull	24	+0.591 1'12.213	0.042	S	214.814
10	G. Bortoleto Audi	5		Audi	Audi	24	+1.022 1'12.644	0.431	S	213.540
11	P. Gasly Alpine	10		Alpine	Mercedes	26	+1.022 1'12.644	0.000	S	213.540
12	L. Hamilton Ferrari	44		Ferrari	Ferrari	7	+1.211 1'12.833	0.189	M	212.985
13	N. Hulkenberg Audi	27		Audi	Audi	27	+1.243 1'12.865	0.032	S	212.892
14	F. Colapinto Alpine	43		Alpine	Mercedes	25	+1.303 1'12.925	0.060	S	212.717
15	R. Câmara Haas F1 Team	51		Haas	Ferrari	19	+1.359 1'12.981	0.056	S	212.553
16	O. Bearman Haas F1 Team	87		Haas	Ferrari	20	+1.487 1'13.109	0.128	S	212.181
17	A. Albon Williams	23		Williams	Mercedes	25	+1.525 1'13.147	0.038	S	212.071
18	F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing	14		Aston Martin	Honda	23	+1.549 1'13.171	0.024	S	212.002
19	C. Sainz Williams	55		Williams	Mercedes	21	+1.681 1'13.303	0.132	S	211.620
20	S. Perez Cadillac F1 Team	11		Cadillac	Ferrari	32	+1.951 1'13.573	0.270	S	210.843
21	V. Bottas Cadillac F1 Team	77		Cadillac	Ferrari	19	+2.100 1'13.722	0.149	S	210.417
22	L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing	18		Aston Martin	Honda	7	+3.144 1'14.766	1.044	M	207.479
View full results