Penalty and 15th place for Verstappen

Max Verstappen started the race weekend in São Paulo very cautiously. The World Championship leader, who was moved back five starting positions on Sunday (6 p.m. CET/Sky) due to an unauthorized engine change, did not get past 15th place in the only free practice session. He aborted his last attempt at a fast lap prematurely. World Cup challenger Lando Norris, on the other hand, secured the fastest time.

The 24-year-old Brit set the fastest lap at the end of the one-hour session and relegated his McLaren compatriot George Russell to second place in the Mercedes. A Brit also came third: 19-year-old Oliver Bearman. Haas’ designated Formula 1 regular driver for next year replaced Dane Kevin Magnussen on Friday, who was not feeling well. Nico Hülkenberg drove to eighth place in the second Haas.

Sprint qualification today too

Verstappen was 1.102 seconds short of the best time. However, he only drove with the medium-hard tires and not with the soft and therefore fastest ones. He leads the rankings with 47 points ahead of Norris and suffered another setback before the first few kilometers. Because the six engine is already being used in his Red Bull at Interlagos, he will be placed on the starting grid for the Grand Prix as a penalty. The penalty has no influence on the outcome of the qualification today (7.30 p.m. CET/Sky) for the sprint race on Saturday.