Hamilton suffers with "floating" Mercedes as eight-thousandths separate top three
Hamilton suffers with "floating" Mercedes as eight-thousandths separate top three
Lewis Hamilton was left complaining of a "floating" Mercedes around a São Paulo Grand Prix circuit where he delivered one of the stand-out performances of his F1 career a year ago.
At the end of the only practice session available to the teams and drivers ahead of qualifying given this weekend hosts the last of the season's three sprints, Hamilton finished only fifth quickest as Red Bull's Sergio Perez led the way.
Just eight-thousandths of a second separated the top three, with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc 0.004secs behind Perez, who posted a lap of one minute 11.853secs, and whose team-mate Max Verstappen was a further 0.004s down.
Carlos Sainz, whose Ferrari has taken on a sixth new internal combustion engine of the season, leading to a five-place penalty for Sunday's race, was fourth fastest, 0.186s down, edging Hamilton by 0.001s.
The seven-time F1 champion, though, was left unhappy with his W13.
With 20 minutes of the session remaining at Interlagos, Hamilton complained of his W13 "floating around" at the rear, leaving him with "no grip" and languishing in 16th on the timesheet at that point as his team pushed him back into the garage.
Emerging on his next run from the pits on soft tyres, Hamilton locked up at one point, forcing him to abort that lap, as was the case with the following tour before he finally posted a representative time of 1:12.040s.
It was in stark contrast to Hamilton's performance at this track a year ago.
Hamilton started the sprint last after being disqualified from qualifying for a technical infringement but managed to finish fifth at the end of the 24 laps.
The Briton then took a five-place grid penalty for the grand prix following an engine change, leading to him starting 10th but going on to win the race following a fascinating duel with Verstappen.
Hamilton still managed to finish ahead of team-mate George Russell by 0.015s, with Aston Martin's Sebastian Vettel a strong seventh and a further tenth of a second back.
Haas driver Mick Schumacher, whose F1 future still remains uncertain, was eighth quickest, followed by Alfa Romeo's Valtteri Bottas and Pierre Gasly in his AlphaTauri, with the French driver sitting uncomfortably two points away from a race ban.
Despite this 60 minutes being the only one for the teams to set up their cars ahead of qualifying, five drivers opted not to use the soft tyres.
Alpine pair Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon were 11th and 13th, McLaren's Lando Norris 15th whose team-mate Daniel Ricciardo propped up the standings, 1.506s down, while AlphaTauri's Yuki Tsunoda was one place ahead of the Australian.
Norris was at least able to take part after missing Thursday's track walk and media commitments after being hit with a bout of food poisoning.
São Paulo Grand Prix first practice results
1. Sergio Perez [Red Bull] 1:11.853secs
2. Charles Leclerc [Ferrari] +0.004s
3. Max Verstappen [Red Bull] +0.008s
4. Carlos Sainz [Ferrari] +0.186s
5. Lewis Hamilton [Mercedes] +0.187s
6. George Russell [Mercedes] +0.202s
7. Sebastian Vettel [Aston Martin] +0.304s
8. Mick Schumacher [Haas] +0.461s
9. Valtteri Bottas [Alfa Romeo] +0.613s
10. Pierre Gasly [AlphaTauri] +0.614s
11. Fernando Alonso [Alpine] +0.701s
12. Alexander Albon [Williams] +0.780s
13. Esteban Ocon [Alpine] +0.852s
14. Lance Stroll [Aston Martin] +0.906s
15. Lando Norris [McLaren] +1.102s
16. Kevin Magnussen [Haas] +1.144s
17. Nicholas Latifi [Williams] +1.166s
18. Zhou Guanyu [Alfa Romeo] +1.262s
19. Yuki Tsunoda [AlphaTauri] +1.494s
20. Daniel Ricciardo [McLaren] +1.506
Related
Change your timezone:
Latest News
Hamilton fired serious warning by Wolff as F1 star takes aim at controversial FIA decision - GPFans F1 Recap
- 1 hour ago
F1's quirkiest star begins selling ICE CREAM in latest venture
- 2 hours ago
F1 colleagues UNFOLLOW each other as internal drama cranks up
- 3 hours ago
Hamilton 'emotional burden' heading into 2024 season revealed
- Yesterday 21:12
Marko DIRECTLY addresses Verstappen quit rumours
- Yesterday 20:27
Vettel CONFIRMS F1 comeback and reveals what's holding it up
- Yesterday 19:42
- 1
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