2026 F1 Sao Paulo GP FP3 — Verstappen edges Antonelli as Hamilton hits trouble

Final practice for the 2026 F1 Sao Paulo Grand Prix took place at Interlagos on November 7. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen set a 1m11.622s lap, edging Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli by 0.025s. Lando Norris was 0.131s behind and George Russell 0.184s adrift, leaving four cars closely matched at the front.

Medium-tyre running before the late soft-tyre push

The session began at 11.30 local time under a threat of rain and thunderstorms, but teams were in no rush to go out. At roughly ten minutes, everyone was using Pirelli mediums. Despite reporting a steering-wheel issue, Antonelli led with 1m12.497s and later improved to 1m12.214s. Verstappen ran wide at Turn 4 while trying to respond.

Soft-tyre qualifying simulations became the focus with approximately 15 minutes remaining. Russell was first below 1m12s before Norris, Antonelli and finally Verstappen improved the benchmark. Second attempts on the same sets generally failed to produce another gain, preserving Verstappen’s lead.

Hamilton’s power-unit trouble leads to a back-of-grid start

Power-unit trouble interrupted Lewis Hamilton’s session. He reported unusual engine vibrations, returned for checks, and encountered a loss of power and smoke in the cockpit after rejoining. He completed seven laps. Ferrari subsequently confirmed a complete power-unit replacement and a back-of-grid start for the race. He had already incurred a ten-place drop for exceeding the season’s engine allocation. The new FP3 problem forced a further complete power-unit change, escalating the penalty to a back-of-grid start; the sanction concerned component usage, not his practice position.

Ferrari had checked the car between the two runs, but Hamilton returned immediately after rejoining and his session ended with 25 minutes remaining. Before qualifying, the team said the unit from car 44 had been removed for further analysis and that a complete replacement had been chosen after those checks. He would still take part in qualifying to assess the new unit and the car.

Hulkenberg regains mileage as Stroll stops early

Stroll was called back with an energy-recovery-system problem after about 15 minutes and completed only seven laps. Hulkenberg, who had missed effective Friday running, instead completed 27 laps and finished 13th, regaining track time needed to work on his Audi.

Hulkenberg’s mileage deficit followed Slater’s FP1 outing in his car on Friday, when an early mechanical issue curtailed further running. His sustained FP3 running therefore also served to recover preparation lost the previous day.

Charles Leclerc, Oscar Piastri, Arvid Lindblad, Liam Lawson, Isack Hadjar and Gabriel Bortoleto completed the top ten. Heavy rain arrived as the dry session ended and qualifying subsequently took place in the wet. Those different conditions matter when comparing the two sessions. The complete FP3 classification follows.

Complete FP3 classification