Discountinvestigator,
from what I've heard from friends in TAM, we are talking about "option 1". Apparently this information was leaked to some senators who are peforming a parallel investigation and had access to the FDR.
Sao Paulo is known for its slippery RWY and this landing is totally different to the previous one in Porto Alegre because the stress in Sao Paulo with rain is much greater than in Porto Alegre. In Sao Paulo you want to set everything as fast as you can because each meter is valuable. I'm not saying that this is intentional, but I believe it plays an important factor in the pilot's behavior when landing in Sao Paulo. The RWY in Porto Alegre is much longer, sea level and does not bring any concern to the crew, so MAYBE, the Pilot Flying has more time to do the procedures in a more timely way or even may have considerer not to use the reverser there.
It's important for me to make it clear that I'm a Boeing guy, so don't have deep knowledge about Airbus systems.
Regards,