Norris tops opening Sao Paulo GP practice as Herta secures final Super License point

Lando Norris set the pace at the start of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix weekend as Colton Herta secured the final point required to apply for his Super License.

On a weekend when McLaren is the only team running upgrades, Norris pipped Kimi Antonelli – the man who replaced him as world champion last week in Mexico City – to the fastest time. There were just 0.082s between the lead McLaren and Mercedes, in a session when the majority of drivers completed a low fuel soft tire lap in case of wet weather in FP2.

Despite complaining about issues with gear shifts and heavy steering, Max Verstappen was third and Lewis Hamilton fourth, as the top four teams occupied the top four positions and were covered by a total of 0.324s.

There was an eye-catching performance from Alpine prospect Gabriele Mini – seventh fastest and just under 0.1s quicker than teammate Franco Colapinto – with home favorite Gabriel Bortoleto splitting the pair in eighth.

On the other side of the garage, however, there was more disappointment for Freddie Slater, who also appeared in FP1 in Mexico City but had his running cut short by a power unit issue. On that occasion a fan left in the sidepod for two laps did not help matters, but this time there was no obvious issue until rookie Slater slowed in the middle sector and reported a loss of gears before the car switched off.

The interruption caused a red flag that also led to Herta being noted for an infringement, but the stewards opted against taking the matter further as they deemed Herta had not had sufficient time to react to the red flag and safely enter the pits. That proved an important development as any penalty could have cost the American the Super License point he was seeking, but after completing 31 laps he has now achieved the required mileage to be able to apply for the license that he needs to be allowed to be race in F1.

While Slater’s stoppage limited the Audi youngster to just seven laps in total, Luke Browning only reached 12 in the entirety of the session as his run plan was limited due to mileage concerns for some of Carlos Sainz’s components. Sainz will also likely be running a reduced program in FP2 when he returns to the car, alongside fellow FP1 absentees Charles Leclerc, Oscar Piastri, Pierre Gasly, Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez.

There was also a lack of running on the other side of the Williams garage as Alex Albon parked up in the final sector late on, with a suspected hydraulic issue the catalyst for a loss of power steering, ending his track time early.

Haas rookie Rafael Camara had a solid first outing as he completed 30 laps without major incident, with the team focusing on consistent longer running early in the session. The appearance was the first time that Camara has driven a 2026 F1 car, and his first laps of Interlagos, so his 0.8s deficit to teammate Oliver Bearman was more than acceptable as he prioritized mileage and experience.

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