Antonelli back ahead of Norris in second Sao Paulo GP practice

Kimi Antonelli comfortably topped Lando Norris to the fastest time of a misty second practice hour for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix at Interlagos.

Antonelli’s Mercedes was fastest in the second and third splits – the last aided by a perfect slipstream from Alex Albon’s Williams up the hill and onto the front straight – to set the benchmark at 1m10.763s. The time blew apart what had previously looked set to be an extremely tight front-running pack led by McLaren’s Norris.

The 2025 world champ had been second among the front-runners to set a flying lap on new softs, pipping Mercedes’ George Russell by just 0.02s. Max Verstappen then slotted himself between them, the Red Bull man only 0.006s slower than Norris, before Antonelli set his session-busting time, bumping them all down a position.

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri then slotted into fifth, only 0.068s slower than his teammate by 0.321s off top spot.

Neither Ferrari driver could string together a clean lap to match the leaders despite Lewis Hamilton ending the hour with the fastest time in the first sector. Gains there, however, were not enough to offset big losses in the final two splits. He was sixth and 0.45s off the pace.

Charles Leclerc was last of the leaders to set a time but had his lap compromised by rookie Rafael Camara, who was preparing for a flying lap, on the racing line through the final bend onto the front straight. It forced the Monegasque off the road to get around Camara’s outside before completing a lap 0.27s behind Hamilton and 0.72s off top spot.

Though conditions became notably mistier, with drizzle hanging in the air, as the Ferrari drivers embarked on their laps, the session remained dry despite the reduced and apparently threatening visibility.

Gabriel Bortoleto slipped ahead of Isack Hadjar to finish eighth for Audi, 1.017s off the pace with the Red Bull Racing driver 0.059s further back.

Bortoleto was the only Audi driver in the session, with Nico Hulkenberg sitting out due in the aftermath of the technical problem that halted rookie Freddie Slater’s FP1 session after just 12m

Audi appeared initially hopefully of getting the German out at some point during the session but couldn’t get the car fired up, leading to further work that couldn’t be completed before the end of the hour.

Oliver Bearman completed the top 10 for Haas, 1.228s off the pace, at the head of a tight four-car group separated by just 0.051s comprising Franco Colapinto, Arvid Lindblad and Liam Lawson down to 13th.

Pierre Gasly was 14th ahead of Fernando Alonso, Camara, Carlos Sainz, Lance Stroll and Albon, who railed against his unwieldy Williams car. “I’m not even overdriving and the thing is just everywhere,” he radioed in frustration.

Cadillac teammates Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas were 2.6s off the pace in 20th and 21st respectively.

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