Kimi Antonelli set the pace in Friday's second practice session for the Brazilian Grand Prix, days after becoming Formula One's youngest ever world champion in Mexico.
According to Motorsport.com, the Mercedes driver lapped Interlagos in 1m10.763s on soft tyres shortly before the halfway point of the session. That left him 0.253s clear of McLaren's Lando Norris, with Red Bull's Max Verstappen a mere 0.006s further back in third.
Antonelli had already led the early running on hard tyres with a 1m11.8, despite his car bottoming heavily over the bumpy 4.3km Sao Paulo circuit.
His team-mate George Russell briefly went quickest once the soft compound came out, before settling for fourth. Russell faces a five-place grid penalty this weekend for taking a new engine. Oscar Piastri was fifth, with both he and Russell finishing within a tenth of Norris. Norris was driving an upgraded McLaren fitted with a new front wing, while Verstappen's radio complaints about his clutch caused some amusement.
Light rain fell on and off but never lasted, on what had been forecast as the clearest day of the weekend. The cool, overcast weather still created problems, with several drivers locking the front-left wheel on the approach to the cambered first corner. Lewis Hamilton was among them and reported that he "can't get the tyre temperatures up".
Ferrari endured a quieter Friday than usual. Hamilton was sixth after setting the fastest first sector, while Charles Leclerc finished seventh, having been held up on the straight by Haas debutant Rafael Camara.
Home favourite Gabriel Bortoleto took his Audi to eighth, ahead of Red Bull's Isack Hadjar and Haas driver Oliver Bearman. Camara, who has been signed by Haas for 2027 and is replacing Esteban Ocon, ended his first full day as a grand prix driver in 16th, half a second slower than Bearman.
Audi's Nico Hulkenberg did not complete a lap, remaining in the garage after undisclosed problems affected the car during FP1, when Freddie Slater drove it.