São Paulo Formula One Grand Prix qualifying in Brazil – live

In other news, the São Paulo Grand Prix is here to stay, come rain or shine. A five-year extension has been agreed, guaranteeing a race there till 2035. Who can forget the 2007 and 2008 finales, with the title wins for Kimi Räikkönen and Hamilton? The latter had a remarkable late rain intervention that so nearly cost the Briton the first of his seven titles before the weather deteriorated in his favour.

Kravitz adds that Hamilton will take part in qualifying, despite being relegated to the back of the grid. Last week’s winner topped the times in FP3:

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen set the fastest ⁠time in final practice on Saturday for Formula One’s São Paulo Grand Prix, finishing ahead ⁠of Kimi Antonelli. The four-times champion clocked 1min 11.622sec, ⁠0.025 faster than the 20-year-old Mercedes driver who had topped the second practice at Interlagos circuit ⁠on Friday.

Verstappen is set to start Sunday’s race from the ​back of the grid ‌after collecting a ‌penalty for an engine change, while Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton and ‌Charles Leclerc also face grid drops for taking new internal combustion engines.

McLaren’s Lando Norris, fastest in FP1, was third quickest on Saturday, 0.131 off the pace, with Mercedes’ George Russell fourth. Russell will take a five-place grid penalty, ‌also for an engine change.

Brazilian Rafael Camara, making his ​season debut ​after replacing Esteban Ocon at ​Haas, finished the session 15th, ahead of his ​teammate Oliver ‌Bearman. Audi’s ​Gabriel Bortoleto, ​the other local driver, was 10th fastest. Reuters

Ted Kravitz standing in a wet pit lane, and more rain is expected to midway through qualifying.

How has free practice gone generally? Well, Antonelli was not resting on his laurels on Friday:

Kimi Antonelli set the pace in second practice for the ⁠Sao Paulo Grand Prix on Friday after McLaren’s Lando Norris was fastest in the opening session at Interlagos.

The Mercedes driver Antonelli topped the timesheets with a lap of 1min 10.763 seconds under dry but humid ⁠conditions, with Norris second, 0.253 ⁠slower, and Red Bull’s four-times ​world champion Max Verstappen third, 0.259 off the pace.

“There’s a bit of work to do, but overall feeling good and excited for tomorrow. I think we have a good chance,” the Italian said, ⁠referring to Saturday’s qualifying.

George Russell was fourth fastest for Mercedes despite a looming five-place grid penalty for taking a fresh engine, ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, while Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were sixth and seventh.

The 20-year-old Antonelli, ⁠who secured the world title with third place in Mexico last weekend, had ended the first session second fastest behind Norris after returning to action ​for the first time since clinching the championship.

“FP1 was a little ‌bit of a surprise, a pleasant surprise,” ‌said Norris. “FP2, I think we seemed to struggle a little bit more compared to the Mercedes, just two tenths off on every lap, basically. ‌But relative to some of the others, I think we seem pretty good.” Reuters

Half an hour to go to qualifying, and it has not been a good day for Lewis Hamilton, who will start at the back of the grid tomorrow.

Today, in third practice, he had smoke coming out of his car. Hamilton and Charles Leclerc had already replaced their engines, leading to 10-place grid penalties, but as Reuters reported: “The 41-year-old Briton reported ‘strange’ engine vibrations and smoke in the cockpit over the radio before stopping.”

Ferrari then said: “Following today’s FP3 session, the power unit fitted to car #44 was removed for further checks. After completing our analysis, we have decided to replace the entire power unit. Lewis will take part in qualifying but will have to start tomorrow’s race from the back of the grid.”

Giles Richards, meanwhile, has been looking at how Ferrari will try to cope with having two wannabe championship contenders.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, F1 world champion at just 20 – has this special AKA done too much too young? You have to hope there is plenty more to come from the Italian, but if he needed a reminder of how much talent is around him on the grid he had only to look at the other men on the podium in Mexico City last weekend: the race winner, Max Verstappen, and the runner-up, Lewis Hamilton, have 11 world championships between them.

While Mercedes have won a majority of the races – Antonelli (nine) and George Russell (three) have stood on the top step 12 times out of 19 – Verstappen has won three of the past four races for Red Bull. McLaren have two victories from Lando Norris, the deposed world champion. And Ferrari have … one. More of that later.

Even as Antonelli got over the line in Mexico City, his Mercedes was one of four different marques in the top five places. What remains of 2026 can offer pointers for 2027, for teams and drivers.

So there are plenty of reasons to join me from 5.30pm GMT for the buildup to qualifying for what is now called the São Paulo Grand Prix. In the meantime, here’s Giles Richards look back at how Antonelli made history