A familiar name at the top of the timesheet, but not your F1 routine on Friday at the Brazilian Grand Prix, as a struggling leader returned to the pace while the usual kings of Friday practice produced their worst result of the season.
Here are our winners and losers from the first day of F1 track action at Interlagos.
Loser: Ferrari (6th & 7th)
Charles Leclerc and Ferrari have been fastest in Friday practice in three of the last four races, dating back to October’s Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, and a 6-7 FP2 result in Brazil (with Leclerc behind Lewis Hamilton) was the first time all season that Ferrari finished Friday outside the top five on the timesheet.
Leclerc called it a “very, very difficult Friday” and described the sensations inside the car as “strange” and “very bad.”
“We were losing on the straights, but I think the car in the corners was probably feeling one of the worst Friday feelings of the season,” he added.
“So I think there’s a lot to be found in the corners, more than on the straights, where we know we have a deficit. Normally we are very quick in the corners and today that wasn’t the case.
Team boss Fred Vasseur joked that it was a Friday when Ferrari “had 200 kilos” of fuel inside the cars in order to flip the script, such is their usually prodigious form in free practice, but in a serious moment then admitted that Ferrari had “a lot of work to do on the scales”.
“The drivers, they were not happy,” he confirmed, while saying he was “no less optimistic than last week” when Leclerc dominated on Friday in Mexico.
“We had a deployment problem several times in the round,” added Vasseur. “Everything has to be fine-tuned.
“On his fastest lap, he (Leclerc) lost a few tenths on the straight. I would say it’s not a drama. It’s more up to you (the media) to focus on the first page (of the timing screen), but not us.
“We know we have a lot to do on the scales. The scales weren’t good. The tarmac is the opposite of a week ago. That creates a lot of work to do and a difference from last week.” – Ben Anderson
Winner: McLaren (2nd and 5th)
Faster in FP1 and looking competitive in the longer races, McLaren’s upgrade package for Brazil appears to be working well, with the usual caveat that Fridays don’t always offer a perfect overview of the order.
Senior race director Randy Singh said it was “very likely” that the improvements – led by a new front wing – would remain on the car, and Friday went “very well” for the team, while Lando Norris warned the team still looked two-tenths behind Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes but “pretty good” compared to the other teams.
Norris also felt gently encouraged that McLaren’s new front wing, inspired by the 2027 philosophy, had begun to address long-standing nervousness in the car’s balance.
“I would say maybe there’s a little change in the right direction, that it just seems a little easier to drive,” he said.
“I don’t think we can ever judge things on one track. But so far, for today, things seem a little simpler.”
After missing FP1, Singh says Oscar Piastri was also “immediately on the pace” – something that hasn’t always happened this year – but the usual rule of recent races applies: the team must optimize qualifying, where its leading car too often let its pace drop on long runs. – Jack Benyon
Winner: Gabriele Mini (7th in FP1)
Every now and then a lesser known Friday rider appears prominently on the timesheets during an FP1 outing, which is exactly what Gabriele Mini did on his second appearance for Alpine by setting the seventh fastest time to take the lead of the midfield pack.
“Gabby did a really good job of being a little faster than his teammate,” said Alpine general manager Steve Nielsen.
“(This is the) second weekend in a row for him and he already looks like a seasoned campaigner. He literally didn’t make a mistake, which is really good.”
The 21-year-old Italian, while not reading the standard FP1 driver script about focusing on doing a good job for the team, showed he had no desire to rest on his laurels after making a positive impression and admitted in areas where he knew his lap, fast as it was, could have been better.
“There were a few things that, let’s say, didn’t allow me to have the best lap,” Mini said when The Race asked him to detail his lap.
“The ride of your life, it’s really difficult to go into FP1, but where I had some margin was in the corners like turn 1, because there was never a clear run before the real push, so I never really had a feel, so I took a bit of margin there, which I know I have.
“And then a few more corners, a little bit in the braking points, a few slides that I had that could have been better. It’s hard to really say how long. I’m not (saying) a second, but of course a few tenths are easy.
“Something we could have done better with the switches as well, so not just from my side. But it’s something that, like I said, you get in FP1 and then get better at in FP2, both from a driver and engineer perspective. So it’s normal to have that kind of thing, I would say.”
Mini, who was a star in his karting career and has since won the 2020 Italian F4 title and races at every level up to and including F2, showed that he was not only fast, but also determined to improve.
And these are two essential prerequisites for a potential F1 driver. – Edd Paille
Loser: Anyone who hopes that Kimi Antonelli will die…
For anyone unfamiliar with old English idioms, something “after the Lord Mayor’s Show” is a classic expression to describe something mundane, or a disappointment after something much bigger – like, for example, a standard F1 Friday for Kimi Antonelli five days after winning the world championship!
But anyone hoping Antonelli quits with some sort of post-title hangover will be sorely disappointed by the way he came through the trials at Interlagos with all his rivals at arm’s length.
“It’s the Lord Mayor’s next show for him, not the one after that,” said Mercedes deputy team principal Bradley Lord.
“There are two big things. We have our constructors’ championship to win and a job to do, and both drivers are really determined to do it, to translate and recognize the efforts of everyone at Brixworth and Brackley.
“And then it’s the start of 2027 for Kimi, and he’s determined to finish the season strong, but carry that momentum into the winter.”
There is no trace of complacency, change of mindset or relaxation for the new world champion.
Without him, Mercedes would have looked perfect against McLaren and Red Bull, but nothing more. Along with Antonelli, he heads into Saturday as the pole favorite – if the weather doesn’t change, of course. – Scott Mitchell Malm
Winner: Colton Herta (20th in FP1)
It looks like Colton Herta has really, truly, finally done it – he qualifies for an F1 superlicense, in one of the most pointless and long-winded driver eligibility stories of all time.
Herta needed to accumulate 100km in FP1 and avoid any license penalty points to earn the required superlicense bonus point to finally reach the threshold he and Cadillac thought they had reached a week ago in Mexico.
This basically meant 23 rounds of Interlagos. Herta is credited with 31, which is well over the kilometer threshold – although, as Cadillac’s Marc Hynes mentioned, there is a small degree of doubt as to whether one counts only timed laps or just what is recorded in the session.
By our calculations, Herta completed 23 timed laps that were neither inlaps nor outlaps, so we felt he should be safe. Hynes said 24 hours is the “sweet spot,” but that just means being absolutely 100% sure either way.
And Herta avoided any session sanctions that would deny him the bonus superlicense, after a near miss of not entering the pits while the session was red flagged because he was too close to the pit entrance to react when the signs came on. Phew!
The FIA then confirmed that Herta is now fine, so this is now something everyone, especially him, can stop worrying about… – SMM
Winner: Audi of Gabriel Bortoleto (8th)
The only Audi that held on all day was quick, leading the midfield by a few tenths and taking out Isack Hadjar’s underperforming Red Bull for good measure.
“The track was quite grippy today, especially FP2, so in a pretty happy place,” reported Gabriel Bortoleto. “I think the car handled well, I drove well today.”
The key will of course be to build on this encouraging start into Saturday, when conditions could change, and ensure the car holds up well enough to prevent another scoring opportunity slipping through Audi’s fingers.
“Honestly, my car worked well this weekend, and I hope it can continue like this,” added Bortoleto, “and I hope they also repair Nico’s car, because we had a good performance this weekend, I’m sure he can be strong too.” – B.A.
Loser: Nico Hulkenberg’s Audi…
There was a bad case of déjà vu for Audi where one side of the garage was once again faced with reliability issues.
In Mexico, Bortoleto recorded no laps in FP1. In Brazil, it was Nico Hulkenberg’s turn – except that he did “better”, completing zero laps all day.
Indeed, FP1 substitute Freddie Slater took over Hülkenberg’s car in the opening session, but stopped due to what ultimately proved to be a gearbox problem.
Not only did it spoil Slater’s outing a week after his FP1 debut in Mexico was slightly limited by a different problem, but it was so complicated to trace that by the time Audi got the problem under control, it was too late to have everything ready for Hülkenberg to drive in FP2.
Racing director Allan McNish could not hide his frustration. The only positive was the seven laps Slater did, he enjoyed it, and the team was impressed, as the 18-year-old made a good impact with his off-track approach and the quality of work he started to do on it. – SMM
Winner: Haas (10th & 16th)
Ollie Bearman was two-tenths off the midfielder’s lead in the second training session on Friday, a welcome distraction from Haas’ off-pitch spectacular with Rafael Camara replacing Esteban Ocon at the weekend.
The usual practice caveats apply, but 10th is a very convenient place for Haas to end his day, although his lack of pace on the hard tires and the reprimand received by Camara for seriously hampering Leclerc mean this entry has its downsides.
But fast on the softs, and with Camara performing “brilliantly” on his first day in the car, there is a silver lining to what was always going to be a tough weekend amid this team’s current turmoil. – J.B.
Gn sports
