#BrazilianGP FP1: @LewisHamilton tops time-sheets ahead of @Max33Verstappen. #F1

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton topped the time-sheets in FP1 before Qualifying to set the grid for the 100km Qualifying Sprint Race at the Brazilian GP ahead of title-rival Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.

Hamilton ended the session 0.367 seconds quicker than Red Bull’s Verstappen as the Briton completed three qualifying efforts on the C4 red side-walled softer rubber, whilst Perez rounded out the top three in the other Honda-powered RB16B Red Bull in-front of the second Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas.

In breaking news during the session, it was announced that Hamilton has been hit with a five grid-placed penalty for taking on a new Internal Combustion Engine and will start the race five-places back from wherever he finishes in the Sprint Race to decide the order for Sunday’s Sao Paulo GP.

As the only chance to setup their cars before they are locked in Parc Ferme conditions from the start of Friday qualifying, there was a heap of action at the beginning of the hour-long session,

Alfa Romeo Racing’s Kimi Raikkonen posted the first benchmark of a 1:14.960 on the C2 white-marked harder compounds, with early running all on that tyre and on the C3 yellow-branded mediums.

Alpine F1 Team’s Fernando Alonso followed Raikkonen’s then fast effort with a 1:12.871 as the drivers set their opening efforts, with the Spaniard soon knocked off P1 by Bottas’s 1:12.666 – posted on the mediums – and Perez’s 1:11.774, also registered on the yellow side-walled tyres.

Verstappen, who had been one of the final drivers to emerge on track, then moved in-front on a 1:11.484 and the Dutchman continued to lower the benchmark as his opening tour went on.

Twice more, the Driver’s Championship leader continued to improve his lap-time, eventually bringing it down to a 1:10.189 as the opening ten minutes of proceedings drew to a close.

This remained as the best effort for the next 25 minutes, with action slowing down as spots of rain hit the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace (Interlagos) circuit in the first sector.

Mercedes kept Hamilton out longer than the majority during most of the first half hour of practice, with the reigning world champion regularly complaining about his front suspension being stiff and bouncing vertically as he flew around on the almost-empty track – his best time on the mediums 0.849 seconds slower than Verstappen’s.

But the drivers were all sent out again at the start of the second half of the 60-minute session, with the Red Bull pairing leading the switch to the C4 red-marked softs for their qualifying simulation stints.

Verstappen lead Perez around and improved his effort to a 1:09.417, with the quickest time in sector two, whilst his team-mate was 0.075 seconds adrift and took the fastest efforts in the opening and final sectors of the tour.

Bottas was the first Mercedes driver to put on the softs a few minutes later, and his 1:09.put him in third behind the Red Bull duo – 0.450 seconds adrift of Verstappen.

With just 15 minutes remaining on the clock, Hamilton emerged on the softs, with the Briton ending up 0.351 behind title-rival Verstappen, posting a 1:09.768 – which put him ahead of Bottas – as he lost time as his flyer went on and was unable to beat his personal best on the mediums in sector three.

Bottas went out again for another stint on the softs moments after this, setting a quick effort in the opening sector before wounding up 0.150 seconds off.

Hamilton then followed his team-mate’s plan with another hot-lap on the same set of rubber and he too improved – going fastest with a 1:09.348 with purple efforts in sector’s one and three, where the Mercedes driver ran behind Haas F1 Team’s Nikita Mazepin in the run up the hill through the final corner and main-straight, picking up the slip-stream.

But the Briton was able to improve once more – this time with a slip-stream at the end of the tour – as Hamilton wound up with the session’s best time on a 1:09.050.

Red Bull did not send out it’s drivers for a late stint ahead of Friday afternoon qualifying, with Verstappen’s quick effort from the early stages leaving him 0.367 adrift of Hamilton, whilst Perez finished third ahead of Bottas, who was 0.517 seconds off his Mercedes team-mate’s benchmark with AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly rounding out the top five.

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was sixth and ahead of team-mate Charles Leclerc, with the latter one of the drivers to suffer a lock-up heading into the Senna S opening corner during the initial stint, and then again in the closing stages, the Monegasque-youngster slipped into the turn four run-off area and the end of the second straight cluttering the kerbs heavily as he rejoined the circuit.

Verstappen had a similar moment to Leclerc as Red Bull completed a long-race run to gather data later in FP1, with the front wing of his Honda-powered RB16B racer sparking heavily as it hit the kerbs when the Dutchman moved to get back onto the track.

Alpine F1 Team’s Esteban Ocon finished opening practice in eighth place, ahead of team-mate Alonso, with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll completing the top ten.

AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda came 11th and in-front of the second Aston Martin of Sebastian Vettel, who ended opening practice in 12th place, and Alfa Romeo pairing Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi who were 13th and 14th respectively.

McLaren’s Lando Norris finished the session 15th and ahead of Haas F1 Team’s Mick Schumacher who took 16th.

Williams Racing’s Nicholas Latifi and George Russell were 17th and 18th respectively, in-front of McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo who ended a low 19th and Haas F1 Team’s Mazepin who brought up the rear.

You can see the full Formula 1 Heineken Grande Premio De Sao Paulo 2021 Free Practice 1 Results Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2021/races/1104/brazil/practice-1.html

Formula 1 Heineken Sao Paulo GP 2021 Preview – #F1 #SaoPauloGP #BrazilianGP