Mercedes was the fastest in the first practice session for this weekend’s 2021 Brazilian Grand Prix in Sao Paulo as seven-time defending Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton did the honors.
However, Hamilton will be receiving a five-place grid penalty in the race for taking a new internal combustion engine – his fifth of the season, two more than the three allowed for a season – meaning Hamilton will have to win both the sprint qualifying session and the main race as well as get the fastest lap in the main race in order to make a sizable dent into the current 19-point lead held by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
In the practice session, Hamilton was 0.367 faster than Verstappen.
