SAO PAULO, Brazil -- Mercedes led the way in the opening practice session for the Brazilian Grand Prix, with newly-crowned world champion Lewis Hamilton 0.127s faster than teammate Valtteri Bottas at the top of the timesheets.
Hamilton's time of 1:09.202 was 0.62s faster than the existing Interlagos track record held by Rubens Barrichello, which had stood since first qualifying in 2004. Such a step in speed underlines the impressive performance of this year's cars, with significantly quicker lap times expected as the weekend progresses.
It also underlined the impressive performance of the Mercedes on a track where Ferrari and Red Bull are expected to perform well.