Max Verstappen set the fastest time in Free Practice 3 at Formula 1’s Brazilian Grand Prix, narrowly edging out Kimi Antonelli as Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari suffered a mechanical issue. The impending threat of rain prompted all drivers to rush onto the track at the start of the session, including Nico Hulkenberg, whose Audi missed the second session entirely following a terminal issue in FP1 handled by rookie Freddie Slater, marking the German’s first laps of the weekend.
Medium Tyre Run and Early Troubles
During the opening 40 minutes, everyone focused on the medium tyre compound, with Kimi Antonelli posting the fastest time in 1m12.209s to lead Verstappen by 0.075s. Antonelli reported a steering wheel problem, while Verstappen noted that his steering felt heavy to the right. Charles Leclerc claimed third place, sitting 0.230s behind, while George Russell, Liam Lawson, and Oscar Piastri finished half a second adrift of Antonelli. Lawson recorded the fastest time in sector three, finishing nearly 0.5s quicker than Racing Bulls team-mate Arvid Lindblad and almost a second faster than any other midfield driver.
Lewis Hamilton reported strange vibrations from his new powertrain alongside heavy engine braking, leaving him eighth-fastest ahead of Isack Hadjar, who described his RB22 as close to undriveable. Hamilton’s issues soon escalated, producing smoke in the cockpit accompanied by a worrying sound. Meanwhile, Lance Stroll brought up the rear of the order after a suspected ERS issue 15 minutes into the session proved to be terminal.
Soft Tyre Switch and Final Standings
As the field transitioned to soft rubber, Verstappen clocked a 1m11.622s to narrowly beat Antonelli, who recorded a 1m11.647s for Mercedes. Lando Norris lifted his McLaren to third place, 0.131s behind, followed by Russell and Leclerc, which resulted in the top four teams lapping within 0.274s of each other. In the midfield battle, Lindblad finished a tenth quicker than Lawson, with both drivers maintaining roughly a half-second advantage over Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly. Hadjar ultimately dropped behind both Racing Bulls, finishing 0.591s off the pace.
Hamilton’s mechanical problems confined him to the garage and prevented him from completing a soft-tyre run, dropping him to 12th place in the final classification as reported by Autosport.com. Among the other drivers, debutant Rafael Camara finished 15th-fastest, landing 0.128s quicker than team-mate Oliver Bearman.
