Esteban Ocon tops practice as Kevin Magnusson starts Sao Paulo sprint from pole

Magnussen qualified fastest on Friday but was only ninth on the final practice timesheets.

Philip Duncan
Saturday 12 November 2022 13:09 EST
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Esteban Ocon set the pace in final practice for the Brazilian Grand Prix (Marcelo Chello/AP)
Esteban Ocon set the pace in final practice for the Brazilian Grand Prix (Marcelo Chello/AP) (AP)

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Esteban Ocon finished fastest in final practice ahead of Saturday’s sprint race at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Kevin Magnussen will start on pole position for the 24-lap dash at Interlagos, which sets the grid for Sunday’s main event, after he sprung the surprise of the season in Friday’s rain-hit qualifying.

In the dry on Saturday, Magnussen was ninth, 1.2 seconds off the pace. Sergio Perez finished second for Red Bull, with George Russell third.

Ocon’s Alpine team-mate Fernando Alonso took fourth, while world champion Max Verstappen was fifth – one place ahead of Lewis Hamilton, half a second back.

Seven-time world champion Hamilton is bidding to save his unique record of winning at least one race in every season of his career.

But Hamilton starts only eighth on Saturday at the penultimate round of this season’s 22-race campaign.

The sprint race gets under way at 4:30pm local time (7:30pm UK).

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