Lando Norris set the pace in first practice for the Brazilian Grand Prix, topping the session at Interlagos with a 1:11.716 and finishing just 0.083 seconds ahead of Kimi Antonelli, who made his first appearance on track since being crowned world champion in Mexico.

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The McLaren driver, who still carries the number 1 as the reigning champion, edged the Mercedes of Antonelli, who was second on 1:11.799. Max Verstappen was third for Red Bull with a 1:11.953, 0.237 seconds off the top time, while Lewis Hamilton was fourth for Ferrari on 1:12.040, 0.324 seconds behind. George Russell was fifth for Mercedes on 1:12.102, 0.386 seconds off, and Isack Hadjar sixth for Red Bull on 1:12.156, 0.440 seconds from Norris.

The top six were covered by less than half a second, and there was a clear gap to the rest. Gabriele Mini was seventh on 1:12.569, 0.853 seconds behind, ahead of Gabriel Bortoleto in eighth on 1:12.614, Franco Colapinto in ninth on 1:12.653 and Liam Lawson in tenth on 1:12.715, who was 0.999 seconds off the pace.

Leonardo Fornaroli was eleventh on 1:12.832 and Oliver Bearman twelfth on 1:12.837, with Bearman the first driver to take the chequered flag at the end of the session. Fernando Alonso was thirteenth on 1:13.016, followed by Arvid Lindblad in fourteenth on 1:13.037, Valtteri Bottas in fifteenth on 1:13.370 and Alex Albon in sixteenth on 1:13.510.

Luke Browning was seventeenth on 1:13.590, ahead of Rafael Camara in eighteenth on 1:13.695 and Lance Stroll in nineteenth on 1:13.760. Colton Herta was twentieth on 1:14.275, Dino Beganovic twenty-first on 1:14.356 and Freddie Slater twenty-second on 1:14.965, 3.249 seconds off Norris. Charles Leclerc, Pierre Gasly, Nico Hulkenberg, Carlos Sainz, Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon were not among the drivers on the timing screen.

Track limits were a feature of the hour, with several laps deleted. Antonelli's lap at Turn 12, Lindblad's at Turn 10, Russell's at Turn 1 and Stroll's at Turn 7 were all deleted, while Camara had laps removed at Turn 1 and at Turn 9, the latter for a double yellow. A yellow flag was shown in sector 9 and a double yellow in sector 10 about eight minutes before the end of the session, with both cleared within moments.

Conditions were dry, with an air temperature of 24.2 degrees Celsius, a track temperature of 44.4, a light 1.1 meters per second wind and humidity at 68.4 percent.