F1 Brazilian GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP1
Minute-by-minute updates for FP1 for the 2024 Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix
The Americas Formula 1 triple-header concludes with a sprint weekend at the Brazilian Grand Prix as Lando Norris aims to further slash Max Verstappen's championship lead.
Carlos Sainz secured Ferrari's second straight victory with a dominating performance in Mexico last weekend as the Scuderia jumped Red Bull in the constructors' standings, but the headlines were grabbed by Verstappen, Norris and racing guidelines once again after the Dutchman was hit with 20-seconds worth of penalties.
Who will come out on top at Interlagos? The first clues will be provided in FP1, which gets under way at 2:30pm GMT.
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What is clear is that Haas looks like it could again eat into Aston Martin's advantage in the race for fifth in the constructors' standings.
40 points is the margin and both Bearman and Hulkenberg were looking good in FP1.
So what have we learned from that hour?
One: It's bumpy.
Two: Everyone did their own things.
Roll on sprint qualifying!
Russell: "That was one bumpy ride."
That could be why Hamilton was in pain. Baku 2022 all over again.
Hulkenberg improved into eighth late on but is still four-tenths off Bearman. What a lap from the young Briton.
The chequered flag is out as Norris steals the fastest lap time from Russell, setting a 1m10.610s.
That was a push, cool, cool, push run plan.
"I'm actually in a bit of pain mate."
That's 11 laps on mediums for Hamilton but that is not the type of radio message you want to hear from a driver.
Stroll has managed only 16th for Aston Martin as Piastri goes fourth - that's much better.
But Verstappen aborted his effort after going green in the first two sector.
Verstappen is up in the first sector, can he beat Russell in the middle part of the lap?
Perez is first up but he had no sort of run through the middle sector as traffic forced him off the normal racing line.
Hamilton on mediums had the same issue - neither can take much from those efforts - Perez down in 17th.
Leclerc's gone seventh, with the Ferraris split by Alonso's Aston Martin.
Now Red Bull enters the chat...
Just third for the championship contender, 0.040s down on Russell.
Gasly's gone eighth and Hulkenberg ninth, six-tenths down on his team-mate.
Piastri went wide through Turns 1 and 2 on his lap and ends up sixth, slower than Lawson who has gone fifth on a new set of mediums.
Norris is the next major name to set a lap.
Albon goes third, faster than Sainz.
But neither can beat Bearman, who is just 0.014s down on Russell's time. What a lap from the Haas substitute.
Here we go, last eight minutes and almost everyone on the red-walled softs now...
The soft tyre klaxon blares once again, this time for Colapinto.
The Williams jumps to second, albeit eight-tenths down on Russell.
There's a new front wing going on both McLarens and a few other tweaks as both drivers try to find time. 12th and 16th may not be representative times but that's a second change during this session.
Gasly has found improvement on his latest set of medium tyres - he's now sixth and ahead of Perez as the clock winds down.
Perhaps some pre-racing data being gathered as Norris stalks Perez closely through the middle-sector.
A look into how easy it is to follow in the dirty air? The devil is in the detail, having been at a million Halloween parties last night!
Verstappen's back out on track but still on the yellow-walled mediums.
It's noticeable this year how differently teams and drivers attack this single practice session now the sprint format has been changed.
Russell is out on a set of softs and will be the first to show his hand.
Show his hand he does - a 1m10.791s, matching Q3's best lap from last season.
The fast right-handers of Ferradura and Laranjinha, more prosaically known as Turn and 7, are probably the best pick to watch the action from. You can visibly notice how hard the left-hand tyres are being worked here as drivers flick their cars through. Because it's a fairly steep uphill section, drivers are really invited to take a lot of speed in on entry with gravity lending a helping hand.
Hamilton again comes across traffic down at Juncao, this time it was Norris' McLaren.
The Mercedes then went of at Descida do Lago in an identical error to Sainz's.
The first real mistake of the session comes from Sainz, who runs wide at Descida do lago. No harm done for the Spaniard though, who continues on his way.
Ocon is the latest to improve and into the 1m12s and almost matches his team-mate Gasly.
Leclerc then goes fifth to get ahead of Perez, with Stroll now eighth and ahead of Lawson.
Russell, Sainz and Zhou are the only drivers in the pits with 25 minutes left, with times starting to go yellow on the timing screens now.
Bearman improved to 14th on his latest attempt.
With Magnussen out for the day, worth pointing out that Alonso missed media day yesterday after flying back to Europe after Mexico to deal with an "intestinal infection".
Alonso goes fourth and ahead of Perez as the track continues to ramp up, but perhaps not as much as could be expected.
Hamilton: "Ride quality is still bad."
It may be but the lap time looks alright.
Hamilton is next across the line to go less than half-a-tenth down on Verstappen.
The top three now with a tenth of each other.
We don't know what teams are running what fuel loads right now but Piastri's latest attempt puts him ninth, almost seven-tenths down on Verstappen.
Lawson made the jump to fifth on his soft tyres to split the Ferraris.
The McLarens are back on the track after those set-up changes, two of six cars on track for now.
Verstappen's ICE change has been made official.
It comes after his issue in Mexico practice last weekend.
Around about half the field back in the puts now with 20 minutes down, with McLaren doing work to the suspension and ride height settings for both cars.
A reminder that SQ1 requires medium tyres to be used so this is all vital data for a multitude of reasons.
The Ferraris did get their laps under way though and Sainz gets ahead of Leclerc - the duo fourth and fifth.
The Spaniard is four-tenths down on Verstappen and Leclerc a further two-tenths back.
Almost a huge crash at Juncao as Hamilton winds up what looks to be a launch onto a new lap.
Sainz was trying to build a gap to his team-mate Leclerc at the same time and the Mercedes narrowly avoided hitting the back of the Ferrari.
By: Ewan Gale
