Lewis Hamilton came to Interlagos still angry. “I’m never going to apologise for being authentic and real and I’m not going to be silenced,” he said on Thursday. Five days earlier, his lap-one clash with Charles Leclerc at Turn 4 had cost Ferrari a likely victory at the Mexico City Grand Prix. On Friday, Kimi Antonelli set the pace in second practice for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix with a lap of 1:10.763. He did it as world champion, and he looked like a driver already thinking about 2027.
The championship was settled in Mexico, but four races remain. Weekends like this one are where teams set the patterns, relationships and car directions that will decide next year’s title.
Ferrari’s Hamilton-Leclerc problem
In Mexico, Hamilton started from his first Grand Prix pole for Ferrari. Leclerc moved up to second by Turn 1. At Turn 4 he went around the outside of his team-mate, both cars ran off the track, and Leclerc rejoined in the lead. Max Verstappen took second place from Hamilton and went on to beat him by 0.799 seconds. Leclerc was given a five-second penalty and finished fourth. During the red-flag stoppage, Hamilton was heard saying: “We’ve got big problems. Big, big problems.”
He did not back down in Brazil. “Naturally, I was frustrated and I’m still frustrated, so those are conversations that need to be had,” he said. When he was asked whether Leclerc races him harder than he races other drivers, he replied: “Yes – I can see what you see.” He also pointed to Singapore, and the pair collided at Monza in September.
Leclerc missed Thursday’s media day and first practice. His daughter, Bianca, was born on Wednesday. Team principal Fred Vasseur held the meeting on Thursday evening and spoke about it at Friday’s team principals’ press conference. “For sure, in this situation, we failed collectively because that we were one-two and we didn’t win the race at the end,” he said. He did not accept that Leclerc had been aggressive: “The line is fine between the two, but he didn’t crash into the other car, also. That was not an aggression.”
The two drivers are very evenly matched. Leclerc leads the qualifying head-to-head 10-9, while Hamilton leads on race results by the same margin. Hamilton is third in the drivers’ championship, 14 points ahead of Leclerc. Hamilton said the issue was about next season rather than this one. “What we build now will put us in the right position for next year,” he said. “I don’t think everything is going to get squashed and sorted out in one meeting but it is important.”
Friday showed how much work Ferrari have to do. Hamilton was sixth in second practice, 0.450secs off the pace, and Leclerc was seventh. “FP2 was very tricky. Actually, if anything, one of the worst feeling I’ve had this year in the car,” Leclerc said. He added that Ferrari would “change the car quite significantly” before qualifying.
Antonelli races without the weight of the title
Antonelli won the title in Mexico at the age of 20 years and 68 days, the youngest champion in the sport’s history. He is the first Italian champion since Alberto Ascari in 1953. He arrived in Sao Paulo with no title to defend this season, and he was quickest straight away. He was 0.082secs behind Lando Norris in first practice and then went fastest in the second session, ahead of Norris, Verstappen and his team-mate George Russell.
Mercedes go into the weekend 630 points to Ferrari’s 504 in the constructors’ championship. Ferrari are expected to finish second. The bigger question for Mercedes concerns Russell. In a 2026 season that began with his win in Australia, Russell has won three races to Antonelli’s nine. This week he said he needed to take “a deep, deep look in the mirror”. His weekend has already been made harder by a five-place grid penalty for a new engine.
The chasing pack and a home debut
- McLaren: Norris said the team’s major upgrade “seemed to gain performance”. McLaren start the weekend 17 points behind Red Bull in the fight for third in the constructors’ championship.
- Verstappen: He won in Mexico from fifth on the grid, is second in the drivers’ standings, and was third in second practice.
- Haas: Rafael Camara, 21, is making his F1 debut at his home race in place of Esteban Ocon, who will not race for the team again. He was 16th in second practice.
- Weather: Heavy rain is forecast for Saturday. Norris’s prediction was: “Tomorrow will be very, very wet!”
Qualifying is at 18:00 GMT on Saturday and the race starts at 17:00 GMT on Sunday. The champion is already decided. What this weekend can show is whether Ferrari can keep its two drivers working together, and how far behind Mercedes everyone else still is.
—
**Notes for the editor:**
– **Not checked against the BBC original:** the BBC website blocked automated access, so I couldn’t compare this with the BBC piece behind the brief. Everything above comes from ESPN, Formula1.com and Sky Sports, all dated 5–7 November 2026.
– **Points totals may be out of date:** “630 to 504” is the Mercedes and Ferrari constructors’ total after Mexico. I couldn’t confirm whether Mercedes can clinch the constructors’ title in Brazil, so the article doesn’t say they can.
– **Sprint:** I left out any mention of a sprint race because the published schedule shows only practice, qualifying and the race.
– **Ignore 2025 results:** search results also turn up the 2025 Brazilian GP, when both Ferraris retired. That isn’t this year’s race.
– **Saved:** the verified facts are in memory as `ferrari-hamilton-leclerc-sao-paulo-verified.md`.
Sources:
– [ESPN – Hamilton ‘not going to be silenced’](https://www.espn.com/f1/story/_/id/50388987/lewis-hamilton-not-going-silenced-frustrations-ferrari-teammate-charles-leclerc-sao-paulo-grand-prix-brazil-formula-1)
– [Formula1.com – Hamilton wants Ferrari talks](https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/hamilton-wants-ferrari-talks-ahead-of-sao-paulo-grand-prix-after-intra-team-battle-with-leclerc.3JXGpQWTdOA2a9PiH7NL8X)
– [Sky Sports – Vasseur confirms meeting](https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/13608869/ferrari-boss-frederic-vasseur-confirms-lewis-hamilton-charles-leclerc-meeting-after-mexico-clash-ahead-of-sao-paulo-gp)
– [Sky Sports – Leclerc plans significant changes](https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/13609099/sao-paulo-gp-charles-leclerc-plans-significant-ferrari-car-changes-as-lewis-hamilton-rues-difficult-brazil-practice)
– [Sky Sports – Antonelli fastest in FP2](https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/13608866/sao-paulo-gp-kimi-antonelli-fastest-for-mercedes-in-second-practice-at-interlagos-ahead-of-lando-norris-in-upgraded-mclaren)
– [Formula1.com – Can Mercedes keep rivals at bay](https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/can-mercedes-keep-their-rivals-at-bay-in-sao-paulo.7eVy5I4aTwZqm4N1WE2rBX)
Sports journalist and editor at SportsPortal.net. Covers cricket, football, Formula 1, tennis, and basketball with a focus on how global sports connect with Pakistani audiences. Follows the PSL, Pakistan national cricket team, Premier League, and major international tournaments. Has reported on sports for digital audiences since 2021.
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