Austin's Circuit of the Americas has more fast corners than Spa and more slow corners than the Hungaroring, a blend that somewhat compromises top speed numbers.
As a high downforce venue, car set-up puts the emphasis on slow-speed grip, specifically traction at corner exit, but COTA's two DRS zones along the two longest straights help to eliminate the extra drag at high speed.
Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel topped the speedtrap readings by a small margin, outpacing their Mercedes rivals by approximately 4 km/h.
Proof of the good health of Ferrari's power unit was further validated by Charles Leclerc who breezed through the speedtrap at a cool 321.7 km/h.
Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo enjoyed a decent qualifying session, clocking in fifth overall but the Aussie's deficit to his fellow frontrunners in terms of top speed was massive, over 17 km/h!
Team mate Max Verstappen's speed was obviously impacted by his early exit from the session following his speed bump-induced suspension failure.
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