Red Bull’s Sergio Perez headed Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in first practice at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix. The Mexican was just 0.004 seconds ahead of the Ferrari but set his time a good half-hour earlier than Leclerc, when the track would have had less grip. World champion Max Verstappen was third fastest, another 0.004secs behind with a lap set at the same time as Perez. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was fourth ahead of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell. Hamilton was 0.187secs off the pace in the Mercedes, Russell 0.202secs behind Perez. The session was the only hour of practice before qualifying on the final ‘sprint’ event of the season.

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