Lewis Hamilton set the quickest time within the first and solely follow session for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix forward of Friday afternoon’s qualifying session.

The seven-time champion, who’s going through a five-place grid penalty for Sunday’s race, was 0.367s quicker than his title rival Max Verstappen in second place.

The grid penalty will solely apply to Sunday’s race, so Hamilton will nonetheless be in rivalry for the three factors on provide for victory in Saturday’s dash race if he qualifies nicely on Friday afternoon.

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Crimson Bull appeared to shift focus to race tempo on the finish of the follow session, which can show to be clever as every driver’s setup might be locked in place from the beginning of Friday qualifying onward. Mercedes, in the meantime, appeared to be extra centered on getting the automotive to carry out over a single lap.

Verstappen’s teammate, Sergio Perez, was third quickest, 0.4s off Hamilton, with the second Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas in fourth place.

Pierre Gasly continued to impress with the fifth quickest time for AlphaTauri forward of the 2 Ferraris, two Alpines and Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin rounding out the highest ten.

Rain was within the air all through follow however a a full-on downpour held off through the hour-long session, permitting drivers to stay to slick tyres,

Friday qualifying will set the grid for Saturday’s 24-lap dash race, which runs to a 3rd of the size of Sunday’s grand prix.

The order on the finish of the dash race will then type the grid for Sunday’s grand prix, with grid penalties, corresponding to Hamilton’s, utilized.