News Summary
- Lewis Hamilton found it difficult to get his tyres working on the bumpy, low-grip surface at Interlagos.
- Hamilton led Ferrari’s FP2 efforts in sixth with a 1:11.213, ahead of Charles Leclerc in seventh.
- Ferrari will review Friday’s data for changes it can make before Saturday’s qualifying session.
Lewis Hamilton locked up at the first corner in second practice for the São Paulo Grand Prix, one of several drivers caught out under braking for the Senna S.
By the end of the session, he had put Ferrari sixth on the timesheet, but getting the tyres into their operating window had made the afternoon more difficult than the opening hour at Interlagos.
“It was a challenging day. The track is very bumpy and slippery, which made it difficult to get the tyres into the right window. FP1 was okay overall, but FP2 proved more difficult,” Hamilton said after practice.
“We’ve gathered plenty of useful data, so we’ll work through that with the team tonight to understand where we can improve the car ahead of qualifying tomorrow.”
Hamilton leads Ferrari in FP2 as Mercedes sets the pace
Hamilton’s 1:11.213 briefly put him third as the teams worked through their qualifying simulations. Max Verstappen then moved ahead before Andrea Kimi Antonelli set a 1:10.763 on soft tyres, the only lap of the day under 1:11.
Lando Norris finished second, with Verstappen third, George Russell fourth and Oscar Piastri fifth. Charles Leclerc took seventh with a 1:11.483, 0.270s behind Hamilton. See the full São Paulo GP FP2 results.
The lock-up came on a dry track. Russell, Liam Lawson, Fernando Alonso and Sergio Pérez also locked up at Turn 1 in the opening stages, and only a few drops of rain reached the circuit late in the session.
Interlagos had two sections resurfaced before the weekend, from the exit of Turn 3 to the exit of Turn 5 and from the exit of Turn 8 to the exit of Turn 9.
Ferrari has one more hour of practice on Saturday to try any changes it identifies from Friday’s data. FP3 starts at 11:30 local time, with qualifying at 15:00.
GRANDE PRÊMIO is following every session of the São Paulo Grand Prix in Formula 1 live from Interlagos.
