2016 F1 Round 20 Brazilian GP FP1, Hamilton Leads with Verstappen Close Behind

The race weekend got under way at Interlagos in São Paulo on Friday, with Hamilton leading the opening practice session on a 1:11.895. Verstappen was just 0.096 seconds behind, keeping Red Bull close to Mercedes.

Archive diagram of Interlagos for the 2016 Brazilian Grand Prix

Rosberg was third with a 1:12.125, followed by Ricciardo on a 1:12.371. Mercedes and Red Bull occupied the top four positions, while Bottas was best of the rest in fifth.

Two reserve drivers appeared in FP1. Charles Leclerc drove for Haas and Sergey Sirotkin for Renault, replacing Gutiérrez and Magnussen respectively.

On medium tyres, Hamilton and Rosberg set laps of 1:13.157 and 1:13.187 respectively. After switching to softs, Verstappen briefly took the lead with a 1:11.991 before Hamilton moved back ahead on a 1:11.895.

Ferrari did not use the soft tyre, leaving Vettel and Räikkönen ninth and tenth. Vettel spun at Turn 11 during a long-run simulation but continued to complete the session.

Kvyat suffered a puncture to his right-rear medium tyre during one of his runs. Toro Rosso ultimately finished ahead of McLaren, with neither McLaren driver reaching the top ten.

Sirotkin encountered a mechanical problem and completed just ten laps, finishing 22nd with a 1:15.800. Leclerc completed 27 laps and was 21st. Palmer finished 19th as the better-placed Renault driver in the session.

The top four were covered by just 0.476 seconds, while fifth-placed Bottas was already 1.234 seconds behind Hamilton. The opening session showed a gap between Mercedes and Red Bull and the rest of the field.