F1 Drivers’ championship leader Lando Norris put in a late flying lap of 1:09.975 to beat McLaren team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri to the top of the timesheet by just 0.023s in the sole practice session for the 2025 FIA Formula 1 São Paulo Grand Prix. Outside title contender Max Verstappen abandoned a Soft tyre run and finished in 17th place. 

At the start of FP1, home favourite Gabriel Bortoleto elicited loud cheers from the grandstands as he took to the track but it was Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso who topped the timesheet with a lap of 1:12.662. He was then displaced by McLaren’s Oscar Piastri who posted a lap 1m12.169, who was then bounced out by championship leader Lando Norris who took P1 with a time of 1:11.796. 

There was early trouble for Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda, however. The Japanese driver took too much kerb in Turn 4, and after bottoming out he spun off and clunked both his front-left wheel and rear right on the edge of the barriers. He limped back to the pit lane for checks on his front and rear suspension and for a new front wing. 

With the whole field on C2 Hard compound Pirellis, 2022 São Paulo Grand Prix winner George Russell took over at the top thanks to a lap of 1:11.542. Verstappen then logged a lap of 1:11.693 to drop Norris to third before Russell returned to P1 with a time of 1:11.188. 

Williams’ Carlos Sainz then popped up with a lap of 1:11.471 to jump to third behind Verstappen and ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who had team-mate Lewis Hamilton just three hundredths of a second behind him in P4. 

Just before the halfway point Piastri returned to the action to push Sainz out of third spot with the title contending McLaren driver lapping in 1:11.401 to clear the Williams man by seven hundredths of a second. 

Tsunoda returned to the track with 25 minutes left, and the Japanese driver was the first to try out the C4 Soft tyres and with a lap of 1:11.763 he jumped from the bottom of the timesheet to P10 with his first run on the red-banded tyres. 

Sainz then bolted on a set of Medum tyres and jumped to the top of the timesheet thanks to a lap of 1:10.820. Haas’ Esteban Ocon then vaulted to P2 on the same compound, a little under a tenth off the Spaniard. 

Oscar Piastri was also out on the yellow-banded tyres and he climbed to P1 with a time of 1:10.193, with Norris making his way to second place, 0.278s off his title rival team-mate and three tenths ahead of Kick Sauber’s Nico Hülkenberg. 

Piastri improved on his next run to 1:09.998 to extend his advantage to his team-mate to 0.473s. Norris also gained with his second run but not by enough and the Briton held P2 0.261s off his team-mate. 

Verstappen then emerged on Soft tyres but the Dutchman backed out of his flying lap halfway through and returned to the pit lane to bolt on a set of used Hard tyre with which to see out the last minutes of a session in which he ended up 17th. 

Piastri and Norris were putting in a final flyer on the same sets of Medium tyres, however. But while Piastri couldn’t find an improvement, Norris put in personal bests across the first two sectors and a purple final third to take top spot with a time 1:09.975, 0.023s ahead of his team-mate. 

Behind third-placed Hülkenberg, Alonso took fourth on Hard tyres with local hero Bortoleto in fifth place ahead of Russell, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Sainz. Isack Hadjar took P9 for Racing Bulls and the final top 10 place went to Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli. 

2025 FIA Formula 1 São Paulo Grand Prix – Free Practice 
1 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:09.975 31 221.684
2 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:09.998 0.023 33 221.612
3 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 1:10.594 0.619 32 219.741
4 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:10.606 0.631 26 219.703
5 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 1:10.616 0.641 32 219.672
6 George Russell Mercedes 1:10.645 0.670 35 219.582
7 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:10.681 0.706 33 219.470
8 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 1:10.686 0.711 36 219.455
9 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:10.707 0.732 31 219.389
10 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:10.744 0.769 37 219.275
11 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:10.794 0.819 36 219.120
12 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:10.807 0.832 35 219.080
13 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 1:10.906 0.931 29 218.774
14 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 1:10.961 0.986 32 218.604
15 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:11.070 1.095 31 218.269
16 Franco Colapinto Alpine/Renault 1:11.160 1.185 30 217.993
17 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:11.368 1.393 31 217.357
18 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:11.493 1.518 30 216.977
19 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:11.526 1.551 28 216.877
20 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:11.763 1.788 20 216.161