Hamilton Verstappen pending verdicts turn practice into a sideshow
Hamilton Verstappen pending verdicts turn practice into a sideshow
Fernando Alonso may have finished quickest in the second practice session for the São Paulo Grand Prix but it was a mere sideshow with F1 holding its breath for the stewards' decisions on Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen.
The hour-long session at Interlagos was run with a shadow hanging over it given the investigations surrounding the legality of the rear wing on Hamilton's Mercedes and whether Verstappen had broken the rules given his parc fermé handling of the seven-time F1 champion's W12.
For the session, Mercedes was given permission by the FIA to fit a replacement rear wing of the same design given the original part used in qualifying on Friday evening had been impounded by motor sport's governing body.
This season the second practice session across the previous two sprint weekends at Silverstone and Monza has been deemed almost an irrelevance by many observers as the cars are run under parc fermé conditions following Friday qualifying.
The practice, however, remains vital for the teams as it allows them to assess fuel loads, tyres and other parameters necessary for the sprint and ahead of Sunday's main event.
The culmination saw Alpine's Alonso lead the way with a lap of one minute 11.238s, finishing 0.864s clear of Verstappen, both on soft tyres.
Underlining the protocols employed in the session, Alonso's best lap was over three seconds slower than Hamilton's leading time from qualifying.
The Mercedes duo of Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas waited until 20 minutes into the session before finally taking to the track, albeit part of the run plan according to the team.
The pair languished at the back of the pack for a long period of time before posting quicker laps on the soft tyres late on to elevate themselves up the order.
Bottas finished third fastest, 1.381s down, just over a tenth of a second quicker and one place ahead of Hamilton, with Esteban Ocon splitting the pair in his Alpine, while Red Bull's Sergio Perez was sixth, 1.665s adrift, and the leading medium-tyre runner.
A further sandwiching saw Alfa Romeo team-mates Antonio Giovinazzi and Kimi Raikkonen sit either side of Ferrari pair Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc - the latter again on mediums - to round out the top 10, with the veteran Finn 2.117s down.
In the bottom half of the order, birthday boy Lando Norris - celebrating his 22md - was 13th, a place behind McLaren team-mate Daniel Ricciardo.
Haas driver Nikita Mazepin again brought up the rear of the field, 3.671s down.
Related
Change your timezone:
Latest News
EXCLUSIVE: Meeting F1's Max Verstappen - Red Bull star’s ‘cool’ canteen encounter
- 40 minutes ago
Alonso RIDICULES major FIA decision
- 1 hour ago
F1 News Today: F1 set for TAKEOVER worth 'billions' as Ricciardo 'ultimatum' rumours addressed by Marko
- 2 hours ago
Top manufacturer takes HUGE step towards F1 return
- Today 14:00
McLaren star sets staggering new F1 RECORD
- Today 12:57
Hamilton relationship 'ENDS' as F1 legend looks for celebrity date
- Today 11:57
F1 Race Calendar
-
GP BAHRAIN
29 Feb - 2 Mar
Max Verstappen
-
GP SAUDI ARABIA
7 - 9 Mar
Max Verstappen
-
GP AUSTRALIA
22 - 24 Mar
Carlos Sainz
- GP JAPAN 5 - 7 Apr
- GP CHINA 19 - 21 Apr
- GP USA 3 - 6 May
- GP ITALY 17 - 19 May
- GP MONACO 24 - 26 May
Related news
Tsunoda "bullied" by FIA in safety car confusion
Button 'amazed' by Verstappen team order own goal
Alonso makes "two year" Alpine claim after fiery São Paulo weekend
Russell joins historic list as Verstappen falls to F1's newest jinx - São Paulo Grand Prix stats
F1 Standings
Drivers
- Oliver Bearman
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2024
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Australia 2024
- MSC Cruises Grand Prix of Japan 2024
- Grand Prix of China 2024
- Miami Grand Prix 2024
- Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2024
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2024
- Grand Prix du Canada 2024
- Gran Premio de España 2024
- Grand Prix of Austria 2024
- Grand Prix of Great Britain 2024
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2024
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2024
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Italy 2024
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2024
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2024
- Grand Prix of the United States 2024
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2024
- Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2024
- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024
- Qatar Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2024
About GPFans
GPFans is a multi-platform, multi-language brand dedicated to Formula One coverage. We bring you all the ins and outs of the sport, 24/7, everything from up-to-the-minute news and features to the latest viral stories and clips.We believe that a new generation of exciting, outspoken drivers will make F1 more popular than ever before, and we want to give our users access to as much of their heroes as possible, on and off the track. From Lewis Hamilton to Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo to Sebastian Vettel, we provide in-depth analysis of every every Grand Prix in the season, from Australia to Abu Dhabi.
With Formula One under the new ownership of Liberty Media, how the sport is being covered is evolving, and GPFans will look to be at the heart of this progression into new media, as one of the fastest-growing sites covering the king of motorsports.
Follow us on your favorite social media channel
Corporate & Media
Innovatieweg 20C7007 CD, Doetinchem, Netherlands
+31645516860