Hamilton ahead in opening practice at Brazil

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F1 Grand Prix, GP Brazil, Autódromo José Carlos Pace, Interlagosbr

Lewis Hamilton was the fastest man in today's first practice session of the Brazilian GP weekend. The session was closely fought, and suggested that Red Bull Racing could be a major contender, contrary to their disappointing performance last year.

While Red Bull still struggled with the lacking Renault power unit, their early pace at Interlagos confirms yet again how much progress the team have made with their power unit.

Five tenths eventually covered the top four, with Verstappen edging close to Hamilton, who also proved fastest on the medium compound Pirelli tyres. Nico Rosberg followed at two tenths, followed by Daniel Ricciardo.

Valtteri Bottas, who was confirmed to stay at Williams next year, was fifth fastest, ahead of both Force India's and team mate Felipe Massa. The latter conveniently runs a custom Williams livery at his final home race in F1.

Both Ferraris completed the top 10 as the team opted not to run the soft tyres.

Results

Pos.No.DriverCarTimeGapLaps
144Lewis HamiltonMercedes1:11.895-32
233Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing Tag Heuer1:11.991+0.096s29
36Nico RosbergMercedes1:12.125+0.230s26
43Daniel RicciardoRed Bull Racing Tag Heuer1:12.371+0.476s27
577Valtteri BottasWilliams Mercedes1:13.129+1.234s36
611Sergio PerezForce India Mercedes1:13.289+1.394s31
727Nico HulkenbergForce India Mercedes1:13.293+1.398s33
819Felipe MassaWilliams Mercedes1:13.318+1.423s33
95Sebastian VettelFerrari1:13.567+1.672s24
107Kimi RäikkönenFerrari1:13.569+1.674s26
1155Carlos SainzToro Rosso Ferrari1:13.711+1.816s22
1226Daniil KvyatToro Rosso Ferrari1:14.090+2.195s15
1322Jenson ButtonMcLaren Honda1:14.252+2.357s27
1414Fernando AlonsoMcLaren Honda1:14.296+2.401s26
158Romain GrosjeanHaas Ferrari1:14.507+2.612s25
1612Felipe NasrSauber Ferrari1:14.631+2.736s21
179Marcus EricssonSauber Ferrari1:14.654+2.759s23
1831Esteban OconMrt Mercedes1:14.827+2.932s30
1930Jolyon PalmerRenault1:14.908+3.013s32
2094Pascal WehrleinMrt Mercedes1:14.948+3.053s32
2150Charles LeclercHaas Ferrari1:15.391+3.496s27
2246Sergey SirotkinRenault1:15.800+3.905s10