Lewis Hamilton finished fourth in the opening free practice session for the 2026 Brazilian Grand Prix, ending FP1 just 0.324 seconds behind Lando Norris. Ferrari’s second car, driven by Dino Beganovic in place of Charles Leclerc, finished 21st, 2.640 seconds off the fastest time. However, there was also potentially encouraging news away from the circuit, with a meeting involving the two Ferrari race drivers and team principal Fred Vasseur reportedly producing a positive outcome.
The opening session at Interlagos offered an initial indication of the SF-26’s performance, although the different programmes completed by Ferrari’s two drivers made the results difficult to interpret. Meanwhile, attention remained focused on the atmosphere within the Scuderia following the Mexican Grand Prix controversy and Lewis Hamilton’s latest comments about his team-mate.
Ferrari meeting with Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc and Fred Vasseur reportedly ends positively
Ferrari entered the Brazilian Grand Prix weekend with tensions between Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc still attracting considerable attention. The situation had become particularly delicate following the events in Mexico and the seven-time world champion’s subsequent statements concerning his team-mate.
Charles Leclerc arrived later at Interlagos following the birth of his first daughter, meaning Dino Beganovic was given the opportunity to drive the second SF-26 during FP1. The Monegasque was expected to return to the cockpit for the second practice session.
Despite the difficult atmosphere surrounding Ferrari, there were indications that efforts had been made to ease the disagreement between the drivers.
According to information communicated by Marc Gené during Sky Sport F1’s coverage, a meeting involving Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton and Fred Vasseur took place on Thursday evening after the arrival of the Monegasque driver and the team principal in Brazil. Marc Gené reported that the discussions had lasted more than an hour and had produced a positive outcome. The meeting was intended to clarify the situation and help restore balance within the team following the recent controversy.
Nevertheless, rebuilding the relationship between the drivers remains a complicated task, especially after their recent public statements. Ferrari’s immediate priority must now be to concentrate on the racing weekend and achieve the strongest possible results on the track.
The reported discussions follow earlier questions surrounding Fred Vasseur’s approach to Ferrari’s racing rules after the Mexican Grand Prix controversy, with the management of the two drivers remaining an important issue for the Scuderia.
Lewis Hamilton starts Brazilian GP FP1 on hard tyres
Ferrari began its opening practice programme with both Lewis Hamilton and Dino Beganovic running the hard compound tyres, identifiable by their white sidewalls.
After the first ten minutes, the seven-time world champion occupied third position, approximately three tenths of a second behind Max Verstappen and Andrea Kimi Antonelli. However, the British driver experienced a difficult moment when he ran wide at Turn 1. Over the team radio, he complained particularly about the behaviour of the tyres during the early stages of the session.
Meanwhile, Dino Beganovic was running 16th as he completed a different programme from his more experienced team-mate. The Swedish driver was following a planned series of tasks rather than concentrating exclusively on setting a competitive lap time.
The session was interrupted after approximately 12 minutes when a red flag was shown following problems affecting Slater’s Audi.
Ferrari continues hard-tyre running after FP1 red flag
Green-flag running resumed with approximately 40 minutes remaining, allowing Ferrari to continue its planned programme.
Lewis Hamilton returned to the circuit using the same set of hard tyres from his earlier stint. Dino Beganovic also resumed running on the white-marked compound.
The British driver was unable to improve his previous lap time during this phase, while his temporary team-mate moved up to 12th position. However, Beganovic’s time remained unrepresentative of the car’s ultimate potential. The Swedish driver was still approximately two and a half seconds slower than Max Verstappen’s benchmark, with Ferrari continuing to prioritise the programme assigned to him.
The different approaches adopted by the two drivers underline why the opening practice classification should be treated with caution. Ferrari was gathering information through separate running programmes rather than pursuing identical performance targets.
Lewis Hamilton switches to soft tyres for qualifying simulation
With approximately 25 minutes remaining, Lewis Hamilton returned to the track on the soft compound tyres, distinguished by their red sidewalls.
On his first flying lap, the Ferrari driver moved into third position, approximately two and a half tenths of a second behind the fastest time recorded by Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
Hamilton returned to the pits immediately after completing that attempt. At this stage of the session, Dino Beganovic had not yet used the soft compound, making a direct comparison between the two Ferrari drivers particularly difficult.
For its qualifying simulation, Ferrari decided to send Hamilton back onto the circuit using the same set of soft tyres fitted during his previous run. His lap times subsequently became progressively slower as he continued the simulation, providing the team with further information about the SF-26’s behaviour.
The session ultimately ended with Lewis Hamilton in fourth position, 0.324 seconds behind Lando Norris. Although the result was encouraging for Ferrari, the opening practice session offered only a limited indication of the team’s competitiveness for the remainder of the weekend.
Dino Beganovic’s Ferrari programme affected by floor change
While Lewis Hamilton completed his soft-tyre running, Dino Beganovic remained in the garage as Ferrari carried out a set-up adjustment that required the replacement of the car’s floor.
The intervention reduced the Swedish driver’s opportunities to complete additional laps during the latter part of FP1. Beganovic eventually returned to the circuit for a single lap but was unable to improve his previous best time.
He consequently finished the session in 21st position, 2.640 seconds away from the benchmark. Given the different work undertaken by Ferrari, including the floor change and the absence of a soft-tyre qualifying simulation for much of the session, his final position did not provide a particularly meaningful assessment of the SF-26’s outright performance.
Charles Leclerc returns for Brazilian GP FP2 as Ferrari seeks clearer answers
Overall, Ferrari’s first practice session at Interlagos provided some positive indications, particularly through Lewis Hamilton’s fourth-place finish.
However, the varying programmes, tyre choices and interruptions made FP1 relatively unrepresentative. The Scuderia will need further running before drawing more reliable conclusions about its competitiveness for the Brazilian Grand Prix.
More detailed comparisons of practice performance can be explored through the F1 practice and long-run analysis, which allows drivers’ running and performance to be examined across sessions.
Charles Leclerc is expected to return to his SF-26 for FP2, restoring Ferrari’s regular driver pairing after Dino Beganovic’s appearance in the opening session.
The second practice session is scheduled for 20:00, when Ferrari will have another opportunity to assess its performance and gather more representative information. The full weekend timetable is available in the 2026 Brazilian Grand Prix schedule.
For the Maranello team, the next session will be important both for understanding the performance of the SF-26 and for returning the focus to the sporting challenge after a difficult period of internal tensions.
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