FORMULA 1
Lando Norris quickest in the only Sao Paulo GP practice! Official F1 Journal Free Practice 1 report1/11/2024  Credit: Mark Thompson McLaren's Lando Norris was fastest in the only practice session of the weekend's Sao Paulo Grand Prix at Interlagos on Friday. Norris left it late but with his last lap of the session he would jump to the top of the time sheets on the C5 soft compound of tyres with a 1:10.610 as the session ended with an all British top three. Second in the championship Norris finished ahead of his fellow 2018 Formula 2 graduate George Russell who finished second for Mercedes, with Haas stand in Oliver Bearman finishing third in a fantastic effort. With this being a sprint weekend, it would mean a busy session for all teams and drivers and thankfully for them there would be no disruptions from red flags so it was a full hour of running. How Free Practice 1 for the 2024 Sao Paulo Grand Prix unfoldedFriday in Sao Paulo saw the start of November but also Formula 1 land at the famous Interlagos circuit which has been many memorable moments in the past and would hopefully create many more memories in this year's championships with both very much up for grabs. It would be a sprint weekend for round 21 of the championship which would mean only one practice session for the drivers and teams to get to grips with the machinery and the newly-surfaced circuit before the day's sprint qualifying session. There would be some driver news to start the day as Kevin Magnussen would miss Friday's action due to sickness and would be replaced by Haas F1 driver Oliver Bearman, who replaced Magnussen for the full weekend at Baku. Just one hour the drivers would have to prepare on the newly surfaced circuit ahead of prac ferme conditions. What a home feel it would be for Williams' Franco Colpainto as many Argentinian fans would be at the circuit to cheer on their hero this weekend, who would become the first Argetinian driver to get onto the Formula 1 grid since Gaston Mazzacane in 2001. The green light would come on at the end of the pit lane to signal the beginning of the session in Interlagos and many drivers would head out onto the circuit as they would not be wanting to waste any vital time at gaining tyre data. Oscar Piastri would top the times in the first five minutes as all drivers were out on circuit and on the medium C4 tyre compound, barring the Visa RB cars on softs. His lap of a 1:13.478 would be the top time in the first laps, with his time being only 18 thousandths of a second of Pierre Gasly. The gap would increase between Piastri and Gasly as the McLaren driver would improve but he would be demoted to second with his teammate Lando Norris setting a stunning lap time of 1:12.641 and would be over half a second clear. This would be a clear indication that the track was improving constantly as Mercedes' George Russell would elevate himself to first by almost four tenths. Russell's time at the top would be short-lived as Sergio Perez of Red Bull would then go quickest overall. Russell would soon return to the top though as the Mercedes-engine cars seemed to be finding pace with all four Mercedes-engine machines being in the top six. Russell's time at the top would be cut short once more as reigning world champion Max Verstappen. Verstappen would sit quickest with a 1:11.712, one tenth ahead of Russell with Perez in third with 20 minutes having flown by in the practice session so far. Liam Lawson would elevate himself to fifth place overall. Lewis Hamilton would put in an impressive time as he approached the halfway point of the session to go second fastest and he would miss out by just 42 thousandths of a second which would take him ahead of his Mercedes teammate George Russell. Verstappen, Hamilton, Russell, Fernando Alonso and Charles Leclerc would complete the top five as exactly half of the session half of the session having been completed. Drivers would start to join the two Visa RB drivers who had been running the C5 soft tyre compound since the start of the session. George Russell would be the first driver to practice a qualifying run on them and would go fastest overall with a 1:10.791. Last year's pole lap in sprint qualifying was a 1:10.622 by Lando Norris, so already the drivers were fairly close to that lap time. Sprint qualifying will see the drivers use medium tyres in SQ1 and SQ2 but this would not stop drivers attempting qualifying laps on the soft tyres as this was all the they had to practice as the session would be down to the final 10 minutes. Russell's time would be closely matched by Haas' Oliver Bearman as the Haas driver went 14 thousandths away. A great lap from the Brit standing in for Magnussen as it could not be beaten by Lando Norris who would only go third. The session would be into the last five minutes as many drivers would be making the last minutes count and getting crucial laps completed ahead of parc ferme conditions. The chequered flag would soon be out as Lando Norris would go to the top of the times as the flag was thrown from the race control tower. and this would be the fastest lap of the session with a 1:10.610, which beat his pole lap in sprint qualifying last year. It would be a British 1-2-3 as Norris was ahead of George Russell of Mercedes in second with the Haas of Oliver Bearman, who put a great lap together to finish third overall. McLaren's Oscar Piastri and Williams' Alex Albon completed the top five. That would be free practice completed for the weekend as attention would turn to the sprint action. Sprint qualifying would be nect andthat would complete the track action for Friday. 2024 FIA Formula One World Championship: Round 21 - Sao Paulo Grand Prix free practice 1 result
 Brandon Whiteside
Writer - F1 Journal
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