World champion Antonelli sets the pace in Brazil ahead of Norris and Verstappen

The best lap time of George Russell, who finished fourth, was nearly three tenths slower than Antonelli's best attempt. Oscar Piastri finished fifth, while the two Ferrari drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, finished sixth and seventh, respectively.

Ever since the Sprint was first introduced to Formula 1 back in 2021, the Interlagos circuit had hosted one every year. However, there was no Sprint this year in Brazil, meaning the schedule continued with the second free practice session instead.

Drivers were quick to enter the circuit, including Leclerc, who had handed over his seat in FP1 to rookie Dino Beganovic. Within four minutes, everyone was out on track except Nico Hulkenberg, as Audi continued to work on his car. In the end, the German driver could not take part in the session at all.

After the first 15 minutes, Antonelli led the session with a 1:11.8 on hard tyres ahead of Norris, who had been quickest in FP1 earlier today, and Verstappen.

Hadjar was among the first to switch to a set of soft tyres, with 38 minutes remaining in the session. However, on his first attempt, the Red Bull Racing driver could not improve on Antonelli's lap.

By the halfway point of the session, more drivers began using the softest compound, leading to considerable improvements. After the frontrunners had completed their first laps, Norris found himself in the lead, 0.006 seconds ahead of Verstappen and 0.020 seconds ahead of Russell. He remained there until Antonelli improved to a 1:10.7. Leclerc lost considerable time on his attempt after he was impeded by Rafael Camara on the main straight.

During the final 15 minutes of the session, drivers went back to completing longer runs on the medium and hard tyres instead of chasing lap times on the softs. This meant that no one improved on Antonelli's 1:10.7.