Antonelli fastest in second practice at the São Paulo Grand Prix

Kimi Antonelli, whom the source describes as the new F1 champion, was fastest in the second practice session of the Formula 1 São Paulo Grand Prix in Brazil. His best lap of 1:10.763 was 0.253 seconds quicker than that of Lando Norris of McLaren, who had topped the first practice session.

Weather and tyres

There had been concern about rain before the session, but the track saw only light mist and a few drops that never developed into proper rainfall. The cooler, cloudy conditions still created extra difficulties for several teams. Lewis Hamilton reported that he could not get heat into his tyres and locked them up several times at the first corner. Antonelli complained that the underside of his car was scraping the asphalt on the bumpy circuit.

After running on the hard compound, teams switched to Pirelli's soft tyres. George Russell briefly set the best time before being passed by both Norris and Max Verstappen.

Other results

Norris finished only 0.006 seconds ahead of Verstappen, the Red Bull driver who won the previous round. The four-time champion complained about his car's clutch. Ferrari had a more modest session: Hamilton was sixth and Charles Leclerc seventh, after being held up on a straight by Haas debutant Rafael Camara.

Home driver Gabriel Bortoleto was eighth in an Audi. Camara ended the day 16th, half a second behind his team-mate Oliver Bearman. Audi's Nico Hülkenberg stayed in the garage because of technical problems; in the first practice session, the car had already failed his stand-in, Freddie Slater.