Rafael Câmara makes F1 debut before home crowd in São Paulo

Rafael Câmara made his Formula 1 debut in front of his home crowd at the São Paulo Grand Prix on Friday, with Haas reporting him 18th in FP1 and 16th in FP2. The 21-year-old Brazilian drove the VF-26 for the first time; Haas had announced him last month as one of its full-time driver signings for 2027.

Câmara’s fastest laps were 1:13.696 in FP1 and 1:12.561 in FP2. He used both medium and soft tyres in the opening session, setting his best time on the softs. Team-mate Ollie Bearman was 12th in FP1 with 1:12.837 and 10th in FP2 at 1:11.991. Both Haas drivers began FP2 on hard tyres before switching to softs for qualifying simulations.

Câmara said the intensity of the home crowd and the excited fans made the build-up to FP1 a bit more emotional. Once he started driving, he said, it felt like a familiar routine he had known all his life. He said he had learned a lot and improved through the day.

Team principal Ayao Komatsu said there had been a lot going on around Câmara’s home debut, but that the rookie and the team had handled it well. He described Câmara as calm and professional. Komatsu said Bearman was happier with the car in FP2, particularly on soft tyres, but Haas had not yet managed to make the hard compound work. The difference between the hard and soft tyres also left some performance unused in the team’s qualifying simulations, he said. Câmara said he would work with the team that evening to prepare for Saturday.