F1 GP Brazil, Free Practice 1: Mercedes immediately on top

Best time for Lewis Hamilton in the first free practice session valid for the Brazilian Grand Prix, the penultimate round of the 2017 Formula One World Championship. On a morning characterized by sun and heat, the Englishman immediately managed to find an excellent feeling with the Interlagos track, posting a super 1'09"202 on super soft tyres. Note that this is the new track record (previously the "lap record" belonged to Rubens Barrichello.ndr). The W08 EQ Power seemed like a well-balanced car through the curves of the San Paolo circuit, especially in the third sector where the horsepower and power of the power unit count.

Valtteri Bottas also performed well, just a tenth behind his teammate. The objective will be to confirm this in the afternoon where presumably Ferrari and Red Bull will raise the level of their PUs. Third position for an excellent Kimi Raikkonen, a full half second off the top (to see the fuel quantities and power of the power units. Ed.), followed by the two Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen. Ferrari didn't show all their cards in this FP1, working more from a race perspective. The afternoon session will certainly be more indicative. The same goes for Red Bull, slightly in difficulty with tire degradation.

Sixth position for Sebastian Vettel, followed by Felipe Massa, Stoffel Vandoorne and Esteban Ocon. To underline a "Felipao" in great shape, but as with Ferrari we will have to wait for FP2 to have a much more precise response on the level of Williams. Fernando Alonso completes the top ten aboard a McLaren which has improved significantly at the end of the season. It should be noted that rain is expected on the San Paolo track in the afternoon, so this morning's results should be taken as a reference from a race perspective. Precisely in this sense we will see our Antonio Giovinazzi on Kevin Magnussen's Haas.

Appointment at 17.00pm on Sky Sport F1 HD to find out who will be the fastest in the afternoon session.

POS DRIVER CAR GAP LAPS
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m09.202s 36
2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 0.127s 43
3 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 0.542s 32
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Renault 0.548s 31
5 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull/Renault 0.626s 38
6 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 0.782s 32
7 Felipe Massa Williams/Mercedes 0.900s 28
8 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren/Honda 1.200s 26
9 Esteban Ocon Force India/Mercedes 1.252s 36
10 Fernando Alonso McLaren/Honda 1.274s 24
11 Lance Stroll Williams/Mercedes 1.430s 42
12 George Russell Force India/Mercedes 1.845s 29
13 Romain Grosjean Haas/Ferrari 1.986s 29
14 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 2.261s 30
15 Carlos Sainz Renault 2.265s 32
16 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 2.406s 35
17 Charles Leclerc Sauber/Ferrari 2.600s 32
18 Marcus Ericsson Sauber/Ferrari 2.696s 28
19 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso/Renault 4.832s 5
20 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso/Renault – 2

Roberto Valenti