Red Bull driver Sergio Perez fastest at Sao Paulo Grand Prix in Brazil ahead of Friday qualifying
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Published 11/11/2022 at 17:07 GMT
Sergio Perez was quickest in the first practice session in Brazil for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix on Friday. While the full race takes place on Sunday evening, qualifying will take place on Friday in order to decide the running order for Saturday's sprint race, which runs for 24 laps and offers the winner eight points. Max Verstappen was third quickest.
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Sergio Perez was fastest in the first practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix on Friday.
The Mexican Red Bull driver put down a time of 1:11.853, ahead of his rival Charles Leclerc for Ferrari, who was just behind with 1:11.857.
Third fastest was this year’s champion, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen with a 1:11.861.
Fourth went to Carlos Sainz, the other Ferrari in action, followed by Mercedes pair Lewis Hamilton and George Russell in fifth and sixth respectively. Sainz will take a five-place grid penalty on Sunday after he decided to take a new internal combustion engine.
Sebastian Vettel was seventh in what looks set to be his penultimate F1 race before retirement, and Mick Schumacher was eighth in his Haas.
Schumacher is reportedly under pressure as he battles Nico Hulkenberg for a seat next season with the US team.
Williams fielded Logan Sargeant, who will be a driver for them next season, assuming the 21-year-old American collects enough Super Licence points. Sergeant is just one of many new faces to the sport, and some drivers such as Daniel Ricciardo will be joining Vettel on the sidelines, for at least next season.
The first session is one of just two in Brazil, with another coming on Saturday. The second runout for Friday is qualifying, coming a day earlier than usual. In a sprint weekend, qualifying decides the running order for Saturday’s half-length sprint race, and that decides the order on the grid for Sunday’s race proper.
Saturday’s race will run for 100km over 24 laps, and there are no pit stops for the event.
The top eight drivers earn points for their championship standings, with the winner taking eight points, second seven points, and a point decrease with each further position.
The FIA is considering altering the terms of the sprint in future, as it prepares to make changes for next season. Sprint races have already increased the amount of points up for grabs over the course of the season, and as more races are added to the calendar that will also likely lead to more sprint events at weekends.
While it has often been suggested that the number of sprints could be increased over the course of the season to feature more prominently, a more recent suggestion is that sprint races are not used to decide the running order for the Sunday race.
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