FP1: Norris edges out team mate and title rival Piastri in sole Sao Paulo Grand Prix practice session

Lando Norris topped the timesheets during Friday’s one and only practice session for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, leading the way from McLaren team mate Oscar Piastri and Kick Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg.

With the Sprint format returning for the fifth time this season, the drivers and teams had just one hour of practice to get to grips with the track and dial in their cars before Sprint Qualifying takes place later in the day.

Unsurprisingly, that led to a queue of cars forming at the end of the pit lane for the session start at just after 1130 local time, with the entire 20-strong field beginning their practice programmes on the hard compound tyre.

Drama ensued inside the opening 10 minutes, though, when Yuki Tsunoda lost control of his Red Bull exiting the Descida do Lago complex and slid into the barriers – multiple hits causing damage to the front and rear.

While Tsunoda managed to recover and limp back to the pits, it was an early blow to his weekend chances at Interlagos, given that mechanics would be spending a chunk of the practice hour carrying out car repairs.

Once every driver had got a lap on the board, Mercedes man George Russell led the way with a 1m 11.188s, just ahead of reigning four-time World Champion Max Verstappen, followed by the Williams of Carlos Sainz and the two Ferraris.

Meanwhile, the tight, twisty nature of the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace was highlighted through a series of traffic-related moments – Kimi Antonelli, Isack Hadjar, Russell and Norris all shown getting held up during their hard-tyre runs.

As the session developed and drivers sampled the softer tyres available, a flurry of green and purple sector times led to plenty of leaderboard movement, and a new benchmark time of 1m 09.975s from Norris on mediums.

Piastri was just a few hundredths away from his team mate in P2, as the pair continue their battle for the Drivers’ Championship title, with fellow contender Verstappen looking set to join them before backing out of his late soft-tyre run.

Kick Sauber made an eye-catching start to the weekend, with Hulkenberg and home favourite Gabriel Bortoleto classifying third and fifth respectively, sandwiching the lead Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso.

Russell dropped back to sixth position after his early phase at the front on hard tyres, just over half a second off the pace, from Sainz, Hadjar, Mercedes team mate Antonelli and Liam Lawson in the other Racing Bulls machine.

Alex Albon placed 12th in his Williams, ahead of Haas duo Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman, Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin, newly re-signed Alpine driver Franco Colapinto and the aforementioned Verstappen, who did not get a representative time on the board.

It was a low-key session for Ferrari, with Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton – who spun exiting Mergulho in the closing stages – sticking to hard tyres on their way to P18 and P19 respectively, in front of only Tsunoda.

Drivers and teams will now regroup in the Interlagos paddock and ponder any set-up changes before taking to the track again in Sprint Qualifying, which is scheduled to get under way at 1530 local time.