Although on a circuit like Interlagos it is not very wise to place a favorite rider, especially on a weekend with a sprint format, Max verstappen and Sergio perez demonstrated that they remain on the sidelines after Mexico’s victory … with permission from Lewis Hamilton.
The Dutch and the Mexican dominated the session with ample solvency, and are presented as great candidates to dominate the classification later, until with 9 minutes remaining, the reigning champion took the best time.
Lewis hamilton, who met the five-position penalty for Sunday just before starting, suffered much more than expected. From the moment he showed up on the track he complained that the suspensions weren’t to his liking and had to go into the pits to have them touched up.
Although he initially fell far behind the Red Bull clock, more than 3 tenths, it was later seen that he had come out with more fuel than expected. He improved Verstappen’s time with relative comfort, with more than 3 and a half tenths.
For the Spanish it was a relatively good session. Fernando Alonso he had to settle for the 9th time, just behind his partner Esteban Ocon, while Carlos Sainz finished 6th after the not so surprising Pierre Gasly. They will have to improve in the classification afterwards if they want to gain starting positions for Saturday’s sprint.