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Brazil, FP: Sainz tops sole practice session ahead of qualifying

Leclerc 2nd, Russell 3rd

By Franck Drui

3 November 2023 - 16:39

Carlos Sainz topped the timesheet in the sole practice session for the FIA 2023 São Paulo Grand Prix, with Charles Leclerc a tenth behind his Ferrari team-mate to give the Maranello squad a 1-2, as Red Bull’s 2023 champion Max Verstappen finished down the order in 16th place after only running the hardest tyres on offer.

At the start of the one-hour session, Verstappen quickly went to the top of the order with a lap of 1:13.950 set on Hard tyres with team-mate Sergio Pérez in P2. Verstappen then worked down to 1:13.138, four tenths ahead of the Mexican, with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton third ahead of Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg and the second Mercedes of 2022 São Paulo Sprint and Grand Prix winner George Russell.

Soon after the first third of the session, AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda moved to the top of the timesheet on Medium tyres with a lap of 1:28.802. Verstappen returned to P1 just before the halfway point but he was soon demoted by Russell who led the way on 1:11.865. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso then jumped ahead of Verstappen with a good lap in Hard tyres.

Drivers then began to move to Soft compound tyres and Hülkenberg made another appearance in the top there, slotting into second place, just under a tenth off Russell.

Russell’s grip on the top spot was finally loosened by Sainz who bolted on Soft tyres and set a lap of 1:11.732s to take P1. Leclerc then climbed to second place, 0.108s behind his team-mate.

Russell managed to hang on to third at the flag, ahead of Hülkenberg, with Williams’ Alex Albon taking fourth place ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll. Pierre Gasly finished seventh for Alpine, ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu. Logan Sargeant was ninth, while Magnussen rounded out the top 10. Alonso ended up in 11th ahead of Hamilton and Tsunoda, while Daniel Ricciardo took 14th ahead of Esteban Ocon in second Alpine. Verstappen, meanwhile, took the flag in a lowly 16th place, a full second off the Ferrari drivers after only running on hard tyres during the session. Pérez finished in 18th, behind Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas.

Pos.	Driver	Car	Time	Laps
01	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari SF-23	1:11.732	30
02	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari SF-23	1:11.840	32
03	George Russell	Mercedes W14	1:11.865	31
04	Nico Hülkenberg	Haas Ferrari VF-23	1:11.928	19
05	Alex Albon	Williams Mercedes FW45	1:12.044	28
06	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Mercedes AMR23	1:12.136	26
07	Pierre Gasly	Alpine Renault A523	1:12.184	31
08	Guanyu Zhou	Alfa Romeo Ferrari C43	1:12.481	27
09	Logan Sargeant	Williams Mercedes FW45	1:12.579	30
10	Kevin Magnussen	Haas Ferrari VF-23	1:12.592	24
11	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin Mercedes AMR23	1:12.615	28
12	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes W14	1:12.638	30
13	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri Honda RBPT AT04	1:12.714	29
14	Daniel Ricciardo	AlphaTauri Honda RBPT AT04	1:12.778	27
15	Esteban Ocon	Alpine Renault A523	1:12.779	30
16	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Honda RBPT RB19	1:12.793	30
17	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo Ferrari C43	1:13.012	31
18	Sergio Pérez	Red Bull Honda RBPT RB19	1:13.056	31
19	Lando Norris	McLaren Mercedes MCL60	1:13.629	25
20	Oscar Piastri	McLaren Mercedes MCL60	1:13.838	28