Last year's Sao Paulo winner Lando Norris topped the times for McLaren ahead of Mercedes' newly-installed champion Kimi Antonelli in Friday's opening practice for the Grand Prix.
Norris, the outgoing 2025 world champion, clocked a best lap of one minute and 11.717 seconds to beat his 20-year-old successor by 0.082 seconds at Interlagos.
Red Bull's four-time champion Max Verstappen was third ahead of Ferrari's seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton with George Russell, who faces a five-place grid penalty for Sunday's race after taking a new engine, fifth in the second Mercedes.
Isack Hadjar was sixth in the second Red Bull ahead of Alpine's Gabriele Mini, one of seven rookie drivers given a chance to show their potential.
Antonelli and Hamilton paid tribute to Brazil's revered Formula One legend Ayrton Senna by wearing canary yellow helmets.
THE TOP THREE IN FP1 1️⃣ Lando 2️⃣ Kimi 3️⃣ Max #F1 #BrazilGP https://t.co/QwFucbNaHF
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 6, 2026
Antonelli became the youngest champion in F1 history a week ago in Mexico.
"I won the championship and then spent time with the Senna family," said the Italian.
"It was already an incredible moment for me and definitely I'd have liked more time to just sit down and reflect and to realise what has happened."
Hamilton, preparing for his 400th Grand Prix and still waiting for talks with Ferrari and Leclerc following their tangle in Mexico, set an early quickest lap.
He was soon surpassed by Antonelli and then Verstappen before a red flag halted the session for six minutes when Freddie Slater's Audi stopped on the track.
Antonelli and Verstappen continued to swap fastest laps, the Red Bull driver clocking 1:11.953 despite grumbling about his gear shifts. "Unacceptable, man," he said. The new champion promptly went round in 1:11.799.
With 20 minutes remaining, Norris went top by 0.008 seconds, improving his time as he settled into a rhythm that recalled his dominant display a year ago when he won the race from pole position.