BRAZILIAN GRAND PRIX - FREE PRACTICE #1
With Brazil being 1 of the 2 final races of the 2016 season, pressure continues to rise for the title fighters, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. Rosberg now only leads. by 19 points, leaving an open door for Hamilton to potentially take the Championship away from him. If Hamilton takes the title, it would be his 3rd Championship in a row.
Hamilton led this session and finished with a fastest time of 1:11.895. Verstappen was close behind with a 1:11.991. Rosberg, Ricciardo and Bottas completed the top 5.
Charles Leclerc (GP3) and Sergey Sirotkin (GP2), took part in this session, with Leclerc filling in for Gutierrez at Haas and Sirotkin filling in for Magnussen at Renault. Both Gutierrez and Magnussen are leaving their current teams at the end of the season. Magnussen will be taking that vacant Haas seat that Gutierrez leaves and will partner Grosjean who will continue with the American team in 2017. Gutierrez has not yet confirmed his plans for next year, but is reported to be doing so soon.
Sirotkin had a troublesome session and was only to complete a handful of laps before experiencing mechanical issues with the Renault. He lost power as he came into pit-lane and from then on out, the car spent the rest of the session being worked on. Sirotkin finished the session in 22nd with a 1:15.800.
Leclerc, who leads the GP3 Championship, finished the session in 21st with a 1:15.391 and completed 27 laps for Haas F1 Team. He said it was "Great to get back into the car" and that he loves Interlagos. Leclerc has completed multiple FP1 sessions this season and will possibly be picked up by GP2 in 2017.
Daniil Kvyat, who finished the session in 12th, suffered a puncture while lapping the circuit and asked if Pirelli would replace the set of tyres. The answer was a 'No' from his team over the radio. His final time was a 1:14.090, while his team-mate, Sainz, finished just ahead of him in 11th with a 1:13.711.
While all drivers have expressed their love for Interlagos, this race is extra important to Brazilian drivers, Felipe Massa and Felipe Nasr. Massa, who is retiring from F1 at the end of the 2016 season, is looking forward to his last home-race. Nasr has not yet confirmed his F1 future for 2017 but is reportedly in talks with Manor. Nasr was previously linked to Renault before it was announced that Palmer would join Hulkenberg next year.
TIMES:
1. Lewis Hamilton - 1:11.895 / Mercedes-Mercedes
2. Max Verstappen - 1:11.991 / Red Bull-TAG-HEUER
3. Nico Rosberg - 1:12.125 / Mercedes-Mercedes
4. Daniel Ricciardo - 1:12.371 / Red Bull-TAG-HEUER
5. Valtteri Bottas - 1:13.129 / Williams-Mercedes
6. Sergio Perez - 1:13.289 / Force India-Mercedes
7. Nico Hulkenberg - 1:13.293 / Force India-Mercedes
8. Felipe Massa - 1:13.318 / Williams-Mercedes
9. Sebastian Vettel - 1:13.567 / Ferrari-Ferrari
10. Kimi Raikkonen - 1:13.569 / Ferrari-Ferrari
11. Carlos Sainz - 1:13.711 / Toro Rosso-Ferrari
12. Daniil Kvyat - 1:14.090 / Toro Rosso-Ferrari
13. Jenson Button - 1:14.252 / McLaren-Honda
14. Fernando Alonso - 1:14.296 / McLaren-Honda
15. Romain Grosjean - 1:14.507 / Haas-Ferrari
16. Felipe Nasr - 1:14.631 / Sauber-Ferrari
17. Marcus Ericsson - 1:14.654 / Sauber-Ferrari
18. Esteban Ocon - 1:14.827 / Manor-Mercedes
19. Jolyon Palmer - 1:14.908 / Renault-Renault
20. Pascal Wehrlein - 1:14.948 / Manor-Mercedes
21. Charles Leclerc* - 1:15.391 / Haas-Ferrari
22. Sergey Sirotkin* - 1:15.800 / Renault-Renault
* - Driving in this session only
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Article Written By: Amy Hawk
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