Norris tops opening Sao Paulo GP practice as Herta secures final Super License point
On a weekend when McLaren is the only team running upgrades, Norris pipped Kimi Antonelli – the man who replaced him as world champion last week in Mexico City – to the fastest time. There were just 0.082s between the lead McLaren and Mercedes, in a session when the majority of drivers completed a low fuel soft tire lap in case of wet weather in FP2.
For McLaren Racing under Team Principal Andrea Stella, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri continue extracting peak aerodynamic efficiency from Woking's iterative floor and front-wing upgrades, keeping maximum pressure on their front-running rivals across both single-lap qualifying and long-run tire degradation. For Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS in Brackley, Toto Wolff's technical team continues correlating wind-tunnel downforce maps with real-world ride-height sensitivity for George Russell and Kimi Antonelli, especially when track temperatures fluctuate outside the narrow Pirelli operating window. As America's Cadillac Formula 1 program scales operations across Fishers (Indiana), Concord (North Carolina), and Silverstone (UK), every development milestone around its Ferrari customer powertrain bridge and veteran driver shortlist reshapes the transatlantic open-wheel market. From a race-strategy standpoint, thermal and mechanical tire degradation remain the primary performance differentiators: teams that keep carcass temperatures inside the sweet spot can extend their opening stint by 3 to 5 laps and neutralize rival undercut attempts. Reporting originally surfaced via racer.com, and our Apex Daily Paddock Desk has broken down the sporting, technical, and championship context below so you have the complete picture in under two minutes.
- Immediate On-Track & Setup Impact: Formula 1 engineering teams must balance single-lap qualifying warm-up against Sunday afternoon race-stint thermal management, where even a 0.15-second per lap swing alters pit-stop windows.
- Championship & Concorde Prize Stakes: Every point scored or dropped directly impacts the Drivers' title fight and the ~$1.25 billion Constructors' Championship prize pool, alongside next season's wind-tunnel testing allocation.
- What to Watch Next on the Schedule: Watch how teams adapt their run plans in Friday Free Practice, Saturday Qualifying, and Sunday's Grand Prix broadcast live on ESPN, ABC, and F1 TV Pro.
Across the wider Formula 1 paddock, this development connects directly to several active storylines on the Apex Daily wire: read our full briefing on Oscar Piastri reveals unexpected upside of being out of F1 title fight, plus Lando Norris questions Charles Leclerc's Brazilian GP penalty: "Just racing", and Max Verstappen names the one condition that would make him retire from F1. For deeper technical context, explore our original F1 Points System & Prize Money Calculator →.
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Formula 1 sessions broadcast live in the US on ESPN, ABC, and F1 TV Pro. Full US CST/EST TV Guide → · Formula 1 Standings & Hub →