Fresh championship silverware clearly suits Kimi Antonelli. Five days after clinching the Formula One title with a third-place finish in Mexico, the 20-year-old Italian topped Friday’s second practice session at Interlagos, outpacing 2025 champion Lando Norris by two-tenths.
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Antonelli clocked 1:10.763 at the iconic São Paulo circuit to edge McLaren’s Norris by 0.253 seconds in changeable conditions featuring gentle drizzle, proving that world championship pressure doesn’t weigh heavy when you’re young, talented and suddenly realising you’re actually pretty damn good at this.
Four-time champion Max Verstappen finished third for Red Bull ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell, who faces a five-place grid penalty after taking a new engine. Oscar Piastri rounded out the top five in McLaren’s second upgraded machine, whilst the Ferrari duo of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc sat sixth and seventh, freshly reminded by team boss Fred Vasseur that their Mexico clash cannot repeat itself.
The new champion finds his groove
Antonelli started the session quickest and never relinquished control, revelling in the opportunity to shine at a circuit where he’s spent time with the family of revered three-time champion Ayrton Senna.
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That connection to Brazilian racing royalty clearly resonated, he became the first driver under 1:11 after 30 minutes before improving further to establish a margin Norris, fastest in FP1, couldn’t bridge.
The Italian completed his low fuel-load runs on soft tyres and didn’t need to improve again, sending an ominous message to rivals hoping the new champion might ease off with the title secured. If anything, Antonelli looks hungrier now the pressure’s off.
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Hamilton, meanwhile, spent the session complaining he couldn’t generate tyre temperatures, a recurring Mercedes frustration that suggests Russell’s grid penalty might prove costly when clean air becomes premium currency come qualifying.
Ferrari’s uncomfortable reunion
The two Ferraris ended sixth and seventh, both drivers having received pointed reminders from Vasseur about priorities following last Sunday’s opening-lap tangle that cost the team a potential one-two finish.
“They need to respect each other,” Vasseur said before Friday’s action. “They are two competitors with a fighting spirit, for sure, but they have to respect one another and mainly, and firstly, they must respect the brand, the team, the people working at home and working on the track.”
Neither driver offered immediate public responses before FP1, though Leclerc had legitimate excuse, he’d missed the opening session entirely after returning to Monaco for the birth of his first child. Becoming a father apparently doesn’t slow you down; he slotted straight back into seventh despite zero track time whilst others dialled in their setups.
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The subplot bubbling beneath Friday’s timesheets involves whether Ferrari’s warring drivers can maintain truce long enough to challenge Mercedes and McLaren, or whether Hamilton and Leclerc’s individual ambitions will continue sabotaging collective success.
Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto finished eighth ahead of Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar and Haas driver Oliver Bearman, rounding out a top ten that suggested the competitive order remains fluid heading into qualifying.
Antonelli, though, looks anything but fluid. Five days into life as world champion, he’s driving like someone who just remembered what all the fuss was about.
Brazil loved Senna. If Antonelli keeps driving like this, they might just adopt another Italian.
