Kimi Antonelli Is Unstoppable; Ferrari Misses the Top Five in Brazil

Kimi Antonelli continues to set the pace in Formula 1. The newly crowned world champion finished at the top of the timesheets in the second free practice session of the São Paulo Grand Prix, confirming the strong form he had already shown in the first session at Interlagos. After finishing second behind Lando Norris in FP1, the Mercedes driver responded by setting the fastest time of the day on Friday.

Antonelli clocked a time of 1’10″763, edging out Norris—who was second in his McLaren—by 253 thousandths. Max Verstappen, driving the Red Bull, took third place, 259 thousandths behind the leader. Behind him was the other Mercedes driven by George Russell, fourth at 273 thousandths, while Oscar Piastri rounded out the top five, 321 thousandths behind.

It was a decidedly less impressive day for Ferrari, which failed to crack the top five. Lewis Hamilton finished in sixth place, 450 thousandths behind Antonelli, while Charles Leclerc had to settle for seventh place, 720 thousandths off the fastest time. The Monegasque driver had not participated in the first session, making way for the young Dino Beganovic, who was called upon to familiarize himself with the car.

Eighth place went to Gabriel Bortoleto in the Audi, ahead of Isack Hadjar’s Red Bull and Oliver Bearman’s Haas, which finished tenth. Nico Hülkenberg, however, ran into trouble and was unable to take part in the second session after a technical failure brought his car to a halt in the first session. Also worth noting is Rafael Camara’s 16th-place finish in his Formula 1 debut, while the two Alpines driven by Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly finished 11th and 14th, respectively.