F1 | FP1 | São Paulo GP | Norris pips Piastri to P1 as McLaren dominate - Motorsport

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The only practice session of the weekend has taken place at the F1 São Paulo GP, full FP1 report and results below.

It was a good start for Oscar Piastri. A 1:12.169 from the Australian saw him lead Alonso and Norris at the 5-minute mark. Lewis Hamilton would then split the Aussie and Spaniard, going 0.225s away.

Down at the exit of turn 4, Yuki Tsunoda bottomed out on the kerb and clipped the wall. His front tyres were horribly flat spotted as the left front also grazed the tyre barrier.

With everyone on hards for the opening runs, Norris returned to P1 after Russell had taken it. At the 10-minute point, a 1:11.796 put him 0.065s clear of the Mercedes driver. Verstappen (0.172s), Piastri (0.373s) and Leclerc completed the top 5.

The top 5 continued to switch around, with Russell logging a 1:11.188 to go P1. Leclerc, Piastri, Verstappen and Norris followed. The Brit was a whopping 0.429s ahead at that stage.

Between turns 5 and 6, Antonelli had a scare as he came across a very slow Lewis Hamilton and Ollie Bearman on cool laps. The Italian was understandably annoyed as he narrowly avoided a crash.

A third of the way into the session, Russell’s time continued to hold up. He led Verstappen by 0.180s, with Leclerc, Gasly, Hamilton, Piastri, Antonelli, Sainz, Norris and Hadjar completing the top 10.

Once again Carlos Sainz was coming out of the traps quickly as the session got to the halfway point, going P3 ahead of the Ferraris.

Between turns 5 and 6, there was more traffic troubles as Hadjar had to use the run-off to avoid crashing into Piastri.

At turn 4 on a higher fuel run, Max Verstappen lost the rear on entry and was lucky to avoid spinning.

Tsunoda was the first driver on softs after his early off and ruining his hard tyres, going only P10.

A double purple from Alex Albon put him P1 with 13 minutes left, clocking a 1:11.004 on mediums as everyone bar Red Bull and Ferrari went for the yellow walled tyres. After Russell went P1 on a 1:10.916, Carlos Sainz beat it with a 1:10.820. Esteban Ocon would split them to go P2.

McLaren came out and were absolutely rapid. Three purple sectors from Oscar Piastri saw him log a 1:10.193, going 0.278s quicker than Lando Norris. Nico Hülkenberg slotted into P3, 0.577s away from the Australian.

It got even better for car #81 as a 1:09.998 put him below 70s. Norris improved but was still 0.261s away. However, the British driver struck back right at the end as he clocked a 1:09.975 to take P1. A scruffy middle sector from the Aussie failed to see him improve.

On the soft tyre, Max Verstappen aborted his only lap out of Juncao as he was not happy with it. He was almost 0.6s down after the middle sector.

Right at the end, Lewis Hamilton had a high speed spin at turn 11.

Hülkenberg, Alonso, Bortoleto, Russell, Gasly, Sainz, Hadjar and Antonelli rounded out the top 10 behind the dominant McLarens. Ferrari did not show their hand as they pounded around on hard tyres.