Antonelli fastest in São Paulo FP2, Câmara 16th on his Haas home debut

Update, 7 November: In final practice, Max Verstappen was fastest ahead of Kimi Antonelli and Lando Norris. Rafael Câmara was 15th. Verstappen starts the race from the back after a grid penalty: all São Paulo grid penalties. Qualifying starts at 19:00 CET; qualifying and race results: São Paulo Grand Prix 2026 results.

Kimi Antonelli was fastest in second practice for the São Paulo Grand Prix on Friday, setting a 1:10.763 for Mercedes to beat Lando Norris by 0.253 seconds at Interlagos. Rafael Câmara, making his Formula 1 debut for Haas in front of his home crowd, finished 16th, 1.798 seconds off the pace and 0.570 seconds behind team mate Oliver Bearman.

Start times for the rest of the weekend in local time, UK, CET and ET: São Paulo Grand Prix 2026 start times. Qualifying and race results: São Paulo Grand Prix 2026 results.

Antonelli breaks into the 1:10s, Verstappen third on 23 laps

The newly crowned world champion was the first driver into the 1:10 bracket. Norris and Max Verstappen were separated by six thousandths of a second behind him, with George Russell fourth in the second Mercedes. Verstappen did it on 23 laps, the fewest of anyone in the top ten.

Source: official Practice 2 classification, formula1.com. FIA document 22. Top ten plus Câmara. Nico Hülkenberg did not set a time: Audi kept him in the garage while it worked on the problem that cut Freddie Slater’s first practice short, formula1.com reported.

Leclerc seventh after a near-miss with Câmara, stewards call both in

Charles Leclerc was on a push lap when he came up behind Câmara on the main straight and had to move towards the wall. According to formula1.com, his race engineer told him it cost two tenths, and he ended the session seventh, 0.720 seconds down, with Ferrari already about two tenths behind Mercedes. The stewards summoned Câmara for allegedly impeding Leclerc at Turn 15 at 16:31 local time and called Leclerc in as well, with the hearing set for 17:40 local, 21:40 CET (FIA documents 20 and 21). The stewards gave Câmara a reprimand for unnecessarily impeding Leclerc at Turn 15 (FIA decision).

Norris led first practice, Russell takes a five-place grid drop

In first practice Norris set the pace with a 1:11.717, 0.082 seconds ahead of Antonelli and 0.236 ahead of Verstappen. Russell will start Sunday’s race five places behind his qualifying position after Mercedes fitted a new internal combustion engine, FIA document 15 confirmed. “Five places doesn’t seem that bad, and we’ll try and come back through,” Russell said in an Instagram Stories post shared by Mercedes and quoted by formula1.com.

That matters in the fight for second in the championship behind Antonelli (380 points): Verstappen has 261, Hamilton 259, Russell 250 and Leclerc 245. Full table: F1 standings 2026; what is still possible: F1 2026 championship permutations.

Young drivers in first practice: Mini seventh, Fornaroli eleventh, Câmara eighteenth

Seven of the 22 cars in first practice had a young driver or a stand-in at the wheel, and two of them finished in the top eleven. Gabriele Mini was the standout: seventh for Alpine, 0.852 seconds off Norris over 28 laps, in the car Pierre Gasly drove in the afternoon. Leonardo Fornaroli was 11th for McLaren, 1.116 seconds down, in Oscar Piastri’s place.

Luke Browning was 17th for Williams (+1.874s) on 12 laps, standing in for Carlos Sainz. Câmara was 18th (+1.979s) on 30 laps in his first official session. Colton Herta was 20th for Cadillac (+2.558s) and did 31 laps. Dino Beganovic was 21st in Leclerc’s Ferrari (+2.640s) on 11 laps, and Freddie Slater was 22nd for Audi (+3.249s) after only seven laps in Hülkenberg’s car. More on the two Brazilians this weekend: Bortoleto and Câmara at Interlagos, and how Câmara got the Haas seat: Câmara’s F1 debut.

Pirelli: the Soft stood out on Friday, rain could change Sunday

All three of the fastest drivers in second practice, Antonelli, Norris and Verstappen, set their best laps on the Soft, according to Pirelli. In first practice, with track temperatures up to 44°C, the C3 suffered more thermal degradation and sliding, so teams did much of their race simulation work on the C4 and C5. By the end of second practice the track had cooled to 28°C.

Pirelli chief engineer Simone Berra said the Soft “delivered particularly consistent behaviour”. There was no graining, so he expects degradation to stay mainly thermal, with wear on the rear-right tyre a factor over longer stints. Forecasts point to even cooler temperatures on Sunday and a greater than 60 percent chance of rain, so wet-weather scenarios are still on the table. In the dry, Pirelli sees a two-stop strategy as viable because overtaking at Interlagos is relatively easy. Pirelli’s compound choice for this weekend: C3, C4 and C5 at Interlagos. Source: Pirelli F1 press area.

Our read: Mercedes on top, Câmara closer than the numbers suggest

Mercedes ended Friday with both cars in the top four and the only lap in the 1:10s. With Russell dropping five places, Antonelli looks the man to beat for pole. Verstappen’s third place on so few laps is the warning sign for everyone fighting him for second in the championship.

Câmara gained two places from first to second practice and finished 0.570 seconds behind Bearman, who is in his second full Formula 1 season. For a surprise debutant at his home race, that is a solid first day. The Leclerc incident cost him a reprimand from the stewards, not a grid penalty.

Final practice at 11:30 local, qualifying at 15:00 on Saturday

Third practice starts on Saturday at 11:30 local, 14:30 UK, 15:30 CET and 09:30 ET. Qualifying follows at 15:00 local, 18:00 UK, 19:00 CET and 13:00 ET. The 71-lap race starts on Sunday at 14:00 local, 17:00 UK, 18:00 CET and 12:00 ET.

Can anyone stop Antonelli taking pole at Interlagos, and where will Câmara qualify on home soil? Tell us in the comments.