Colapinto finishes ninth in Brazil F1 first practice after brief third place

Franco Colapinto completed 34 laps in the first Formula 1 practice session at Interlagos in São Paulo, more than any other driver on the track. The Argentine driver briefly climbed to third place with a strong lap time on soft tyres during the final quarter of the hour.

Colapinto then dropped down the order as he switched to a full-fuel programme, causing his lap times to increase. His temporary teammate, Italian rookie Gabriele Minì, took advantage by moving into seventh place and becoming the best-performing newcomer.

“The steering wheel is getting stiffer and it is difficult to turn.”

Minì recorded a time of 1 minute 12.569 seconds, nearly a tenth of a second faster than Colapinto, who finished ninth. Four Formula 1 world champions occupied the top four positions: Lando Norris first, Kimi Antonelli second, Max Verstappen third, and Lewis Hamilton fourth.

George Russell finished fifth and Isack Hadjar sixth, followed by Minì, Gabriel Bortoleto, Colapinto, and Liam Lawson in the top ten. Verstappen complained over the radio that the steering wheel was becoming increasingly stiff and difficult to turn, after which he headed to the pits.

McLaren, Ferrari, and Mercedes showed similar long-run pace, though their tyre choices differed, with McLaren and Mercedes using medium compounds and Ferrari on hard tyres. Fernando Alonso remained on a heavily used hard tyre and finished fifteenth without posting a competitive lap time.