Max Verstappen a été le plus rapide de la première séance d’essais libres au Brésil. Sebastian Vettel est 2e et Lewis Hamilton est 3e. On retrouve ensuite Daniel Ricciardo et Kimi Räikkönen.
| Pos | No | Pilote | Équipe | Temps | Écart | Tours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer | 1:09.011 | 16 | |
| 2 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:09.060 | +0.049s | 20 |
| 3 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:09.107 | +0.096s | 28 |
| 4 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer | 1:09.395 | +0.384s | 23 |
| 5 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:09.573 | +0.562s | 28 |
| 6 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1:09.679 | +0.668s | 23 |
| 7 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Haas Ferrari | 1:09.922 | +0.911s | 28 |
| 8 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas Ferrari | 1:10.236 | +1.225s | 15 |
| 9 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Sauber Ferrari | 1:10.346 | +1.335s | 28 |
| 10 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Force India Mercedes | 1:10.361 | +1.350s | 34 |
| 11 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Renault | 1:10.662 | +1.651s | 34 |
| 12 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 1:10.679 | +1.668s | 34 |
| 13 | 36 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Sauber Ferrari | 1:10.685 | +1.674s | 29 |
| 14 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Williams Mercedes | 1:10.799 | +1.788s | 30 |
| 15 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda | 1:10.934 | +1.923s | 30 |
| 16 | 47 | Lando Norris | McLaren Renault | 1:11.013 | +2.002s | 28 |
| 17 | 35 | Sergey Sirotkin | Williams Mercedes | 1:11.037 | +2.026s | 30 |
| 18 | 28 | Brendon Hartley | Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda | 1:11.176 | +2.165s | 32 |
| 19 | 2 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren Renault | 1:11.452 | +2.441s | 23 |
| 20 | 34 | Nicholas Latifi | Force India Mercedes | 1:11.493 | +2.482s | 34 |