(Sao Paulo) Sergio Perez dominated the free practice session of the Brazilian Formula 1 Grand Prix on Friday morning.
Posted at 11:56
Updated at 12:07 p.m.
Perez clocked a time of one minute and 11.853 seconds driving his Red Bull at the Interlagos circuit. He slashed just 4 thousandths of a second off the time of Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, while reigning double world champion Max Verstappen trailed third at 8 thousandths.
The other Scuderia driver, Carlos Sainz Jr., was fourth fastest, just ahead of Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton.
Sebastian Vettel, who will officially retire at the end of the campaign, stood out with the seventh fastest time at the wheel of his Aston Martin car. His teammate, Quebecer Lance Stroll, could not do better than 14e time at 0.906 seconds from the Mexican.
The other Canadian pilot on the grid, Nicholas Latifi, was content with the 17e place at Williams.
The qualifying session for the Brazilian Grand Prix will be presented later today. A sprint race will then take place on Saturday, followed by the traditional race on Sunday.
The Brazilian Grand Prix is the penultimate stage of the season, which has 22. The season will end next weekend at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Carlos Sainz penalized five places on the starting grid
Carlos Sainz will start with a five-place grid penalty due to an engine change.
The Scuderia has installed a 6 on the Sainz single-seatere internal combustion engine, beyond the three authorized per year, earning him a penalty on the starting grid, the International Automobile Federation (FIA) said on Friday in a press release.
Spaniard, 6e in the championship with 212 points two races from the end of the season, is only four points behind the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton (216 points) and 19 lengths behind the other Silver Arrow, that of George Russell (231).
He can therefore still hope to win the 4e place in the championship at the end of the GP of Abu Dhabi disputed next week.
France Media Agency