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.
1'11.622
+0.025
1'11.647
+0.131
1'11.753
+0.184
1'11.806
+0.274
1'11.896
+0.313
1'11.935
+0.438
1'12.060
+0.549
1'12.171
+0.591
1'12.213
+1.022
1'12.644
+1.022
1'12.644
+1.211
1'12.833
+1.243
1'12.865
+1.303
1'12.925
+1.359
1'12.981
+1.487
1'13.109
+1.525
1'13.147
+1.549
1'13.171
+1.681
1'13.303
+1.951
1'13.573
+2.100
1'13.722
+3.144
1'14.766
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- The Autosport.com Team
Source: Autosport