2015 Brazilian Grand Prix

Championship standings

Hamilton and Mercedes have already secured their respective world championships. Rosberg is second in the drivers’ standings, 21 points ahead of Vettel. Bottas and Räikkönen are three points apart fighting for fourth, with Massa another six points behind in sixth.

Previous race

Rosberg won in Mexico — the first Mexican Grand Prix since 1992. Hamilton finished second, Bottas third. Both Ferrari drivers retired with crashes: Vettel suffered a first-lap puncture in contact with Ricciardo, and Räikkönen collided with Bottas on lap 24 and broke his own rear-right suspension.

Between-race developments

On the Friday evening of this race weekend, terrorist attacks struck Paris. Formula One honours the victims with all drivers wearing black armbands during the parade lap on race day and the French tricolore displayed on the truck that carries drivers around the circuit. Grosjean, a French driver, is already wearing a French flag armband during Saturday sessions.

Red Bull equip Daniel Ricciardo’s car with a new-specification Renault power unit, earning him a ten-place grid penalty. After evaluating the unit in practice and qualifying, Ricciardo acknowledges it brings no laptime improvement: “In hindsight, it didn’t give us any laptime, it’s just for now a penalty for a little bit of knowledge.”

Mercedes try a nose duct in the first practice session — channelling airflow through the nose of the car — before deciding not to run it for the rest of the weekend.

Penalties

Valtteri Bottas receives a three-place grid penalty for overtaking Felipe Nasr under red-flag conditions during the second practice session.

Tyres

Pirelli supplies the medium compound as the prime tyre and the soft compound as the option.

Practice

Hamilton is fastest in the first session on Friday morning, setting a 1:13.543 — more than half a second clear of Rosberg. Vettel and Ricciardo are third and fourth. Hamilton locks up twice at the Senna S complex. Räikkönen spins out late in the session; Verstappen spins at turn three early on. Palmer replaces Grosjean at Lotus.

Rosberg leads the second session at 1:12.385, half a second ahead of Hamilton, with the two Ferraris around a second further back. A red flag interrupts the session when Alonso spins at turn four and pulls over with smoke coming from his car. Bottas suffers a spin at turn nine.

Hamilton is again fastest in the third session on Saturday morning at 1:12.070, just over a tenth ahead of Rosberg. Hamilton briefly stops on track due to a gear-selection problem earlier in the session and then spins at turn eleven. Vettel is third, more than six-tenths back, followed by Räikkönen and Bottas.