Headlines from FP1 at the Rolex 6 Hours of São Paulo
The #007 Aston Martin Valkyrie topped the timesheets in the Hypercar category in opening free practice at Interlagos this morning, as Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG set the pace in LMGT3….
The #007 Aston Martin Valkyrie, driven by Harry Tincknell and Tom Gamble, led the way in the first track action at Interlagos in warm and sunny conditions
Tincknell set the fastest lap of FP1 with a time of 1m25.457s, which proved to be a tiny 0.024s quicker than the #50 Ferrari AF Corse 499P driven by Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen
In an incredibly close session, Ferrari began the weekend positively as the #51 car of reigning world champions James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi and Alessandro Pier Guidi placed third; the yellow #83 AF Corse 499P took fourth position, confirming the Prancing Horse’s strong start to the fourth round of the 2026 FIA WEC campaign
Robert Kubica had earlier posted the fastest overall time, but that effort was deleted for a track limits infringement an hour into the session; Ferrari is aiming to improve its record at Interlagos, where it has never finished higher than fifth
Alpine sat fifth with the #36 A424 Hypercar of Frédéric Makowiecki, Victor Martins and Jules Gounon, marking an encouraging start to proceedings for Les Bleus in Brazil
Sixth place in FP1 was taken by the #20 BMW M Team WRT entry of René Rast, Robin Frijns and Sheldon van der Linde, just ahead of the Daniel Juncadella, Mathieu Jaminet and Paul-Loup Chatin-crewed #19 Genesis Magma Racing GMR-001, as the Korean manufacturer continued its impressive showing in its maiden FIA WEC season
Completing the top ten in FP1 were the #94 Team Peugeot TotalEnergies 9X8, the #17 Genesis which features local hero ‘Pipo’ Derani and last year’s Interlagos-dominating #12 Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA V-Series.R, which races with a duo of Will Stevens and Norman Nato only this weekend as Alex Lynn continues to recover from surgery and Louis Delétraz represents the Anglo-American outfit at Goodwood
Recent Le Mans conqueror TOYOTA RACING wound up just 12th and 17th, with the La Sarthe-winning #7 TR010 Hybrid ahead of the sister #8 machine
Only one Full Course Yellow was deployed during the 90-minute session, due to debris needing to be removed from the track
LMGT3
Iron Lynx enjoyed a strong start to the Interlagos meeting, as the #61 Mercedes-AMG swept to the top spot in the hands of Maxime Martin; the Belgian again shares with Rui Andrade and Martin Berry in Brazil
Martin’s 1m34.883s lap was a full 0.5s clear of Charlie Eastwood in the #34 Racing Team Turkey by TF Corvette
Third in LMGT3 was the #32 Team WRT BMW, resplendent in its patriotic Brazilian flag livery for the event; home hero Augusto Farfus enjoyed laps in the car alongside team-mates Sean Gelael and Darren Leung
Proton Competition’s Ford Mustang placed fourth, with the #77 crew of Ben Tuck, Sebastian Priaulx and Eric Powell aiming to improve their championship position after a tough start to the season
The #21 VISTA AF Corse trio of Simon Mann, François Hériau and Alessio Rovera made it five different marques inside the top five positions courtesy of a peak lap of 1m35.727s
The second of the Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMGs completed the top six in the hands of Johannes Zelger, Matteo Cressoni and Lin Hodenius
FP2 for the Rolex 6 Hours of São Paulo will get underway at 15:50 local time (GMT-3).
All of FIA WEC. All of endurance racing’s greatest battles. Watch live and on demand with FIAWEC+ – the official streaming platform of the FIA World Endurance Championship, wherever you are, whenever you want, including the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans. Stream FIA WEC live with FIAWEC+.
