Who led the time sheets for FP1 of the F1 Brazil Grand Prix 2021?

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton topped the time-sheets for the first practice session, ahead of the 2021 Brazil Grand Prix at the Interlagos circuit in Sao Paolo. The Briton has topped the FP1 time-sheets after a dull spell since the Turkish Grand Prix.

Hamilton was followed by Red Bull Racing drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, who were second and third fastest. Both Red Bull cars split the two Mercedes cars, with Valtteri Bottas classifying as fourth fastest in first practice ahead of the Brazil Grand Prix.

Prior to the Brazil Grand Prix free practice, the FIA have confirmed that the seven-time world champion has been slapped with a five-place grid penalty for an engine change ahead of the session.

The pace gap between Hamilton and Verstappen was 0.367 seconds. However, the Briton outpaced the Dutchman towards the end of the session when the track had evolved.

The gap between the two Red Bull Racing drivers was less than a tenth of a second. However, Bottas was almost half a second adrift his team-mate’s fastest time.

Both Red Bull Racing drivers dominated all three sectors of the circuit for a majority of the first practice ahead of the Brazil Grand Prix qualifying. Perez clocked the fastest first and third sector, and Verstappen clocked the fastest second sector.

Alpha Tauri driver Pierre Gasly clocked the fifth fastest lap of the session and was followed by Ferrari drivers Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc, who classified sixth and seventh. The two Ferrari drivers were in close proximity to each other with less than a tenth of a second’s gap.

Alpine drivers Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso clocked the eighth and ninth fastest lap of the session. The duo were the only drivers in the top 10 to clock their fastest laps on the medium compound tire. They were followed by Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll, who completed the top 10 fastest of the Brazil Grand Prix first practice.

According to most analysis prior to the Brazil Grand Prix weekend, the Mercedes and Red Bull Racing cars are expected to be much closer at this circuit, which was indicated in the FP1 result.

Due to the new sprint weekend format, most teams attempted qualifying simulations for the majority of the practice session. However, Red Bull Racing was visibly one team in particular who attempted long runs and race simulations for the first half of their free practice ahead of the Brazil Grand Prix.

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Full results from FP1 at F1 Brazil Grand Prix 2021

Following are the results from the first practice session from Sao Paolo:

	NO	DRIVER	CAR	TIME	GAP	LAPS
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	MERCEDES	1:09.050		31
2	33	Max Verstappen	RED BULL RACING HONDA	1:09.417	+0.367s	22
3	11	Sergio Perez	RED BULL RACING HONDA	1:09.492	+0.442s	28
4	77	Valtteri Bottas	MERCEDES	1:09.567	+0.517s	30
5	10	Pierre Gasly	ALPHATAURI HONDA	1:09.880	+0.830s	32
6	55	Carlos Sainz	FERRARI	1:10.124	+1.074s	31
7	16	Charles Leclerc	FERRARI	1:10.142	+1.092s	32
8	31	Esteban Ocon	ALPINE RENAULT	1:10.145	+1.095s	27
9	14	Fernando Alonso	ALPINE RENAULT	1:10.201	+1.151s	26
10	18	Lance Stroll	ASTON MARTIN MERCEDES	1:10.352	+1.302s	27
11	22	Yuki Tsunoda	ALPHATAURI HONDA	1:10.374	+1.324s	33
12	5	Sebastian Vettel	ASTON MARTIN MERCEDES	1:10.413	+1.363s	28
13	7	Kimi Räikkönen	ALFA ROMEO RACING FERRARI	1:10.443	+1.393s	31
14	99	Antonio Giovinazzi	ALFA ROMEO RACING FERRARI	1:10.587	+1.537s	31
15	4	Lando Norris	MCLAREN MERCEDES	1:10.610	+1.560s	27
16	47	Mick Schumacher	HAAS FERRARI	1:10.885	+1.835s	27
17	6	Nicholas Latifi	WILLIAMS MERCEDES	1:10.902	+1.852s	23
18	63	George Russell	WILLIAMS MERCEDES	1:10.938	+1.888s	24
19	3	Daniel Ricciardo	MCLAREN MERCEDES	1:10.990	+1.940s	25
20	9	Nikita Mazepin	HAAS FERRARI	1:11.342	+2.292s	28