Verstappen tops final practice at São Paulo Grand Prix
NXTbets Pro | Published On: November 7, 2026
Final practice report
Max Verstappen finished fastest in final practice for the São Paulo Grand Prix, and he did it with a lap of 1:11.622. Kimi Antonelli followed in second, just 0.025 seconds back, and Lando Norris took third as the session tightened up at the front. The top four were separated by 0.274 seconds, a sign that the field remained close even as teams pushed through the last running. The session also carried a layer of tension from the weather, with heavy rain arriving as final practice ended after rain threats had hovered over the track. That added a sharp finish to a session that had already shown how little room there was between the leading cars. The result also came before the grid issues that shaped the weekend, which gave Verstappen’s time even more weight.
Antonelli and Norris
Antonelli’s second-place run in final practice added to a strong weekend across all three sessions. He had already topped second practice with a lap of 1:10.763, then came back to finish second in final practice, again showing front-running speed. Norris also stayed near the top throughout the day. He led first practice with a lap of 1:11.717, then finished second in second practice, 0.253 seconds behind Antonelli, before placing third in final practice. Verstappen mixed into the top three in each of the first two sessions as well, finishing third in first practice and third in second practice. George Russell also made his presence felt in the middle session, finishing fourth in second practice. The pattern across the three sessions pointed to a competitive day at the front, with Antonelli and Norris both trading places near the top and Verstappen continuing to hover in the lead group. First practice opened with Norris on top and Antonelli right behind him, separated by 0.082 seconds, before the session was briefly red-flagged after Freddie Slater stopped on track. That interruption did little to change the shape of the order. Antonelli then raised the bar in second practice, while Norris remained close enough to keep the pressure on. Across the day, the same names kept showing up near the front, and the same close margins kept repeating. That gave the weekend a clear rhythm, with each session building on the one before it and the leading drivers leaving little between them.
Penalties and problems
The biggest off-track story around final practice involved the grid penalties and mechanical issues that hit several drivers. Hamilton received a 10-place grid penalty for exceeding his internal combustion engine allocation, and Leclerc got the same punishment for the same reason. Russell was handed a five-place grid penalty for a new engine. Verstappen was set to start from the back of the grid after a complete power-unit change that included a new internal combustion engine, turbocharger and exhaust. That penalty picture shaped the weekend before qualifying even began, and it left several front-runners facing difficult ground to make up in the race. The mechanical issues reached into practice as well. Hamilton’s final practice ended early after engine problems caused vibrations and smoke in the cockpit. Stroll also stopped running in final practice after a suspected ERS failure. The combination of penalties and technical trouble meant the competitive order on the timing screens only told part of the story. Fast laps still mattered, and Verstappen’s pace showed he had speed even with his planned start from the back, but the starting positions and reliability concerns loomed over the rest of the weekend.
