Leclerc quickest in FP2 after extended Pirelli tyre test

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc headed the timesheets at the Circuit of the Americas at the en dof an extended second free practice, but the session was largely irrelevant as it mainly consisted of testing for Pirelli's 2023 compounds.

Having sat out FP1, Leclerc was one of three drivers who got to spend time on the current compounds allowing him to set a time of 1:36.810s ahead of Valtteri Bottas and Daniel Ricciardo on the same tyres.

His team mate Carlos Sainz was quickest of those who ran the session on the prototypes and finished ahead of Mick Schumacher and Lando Norris, albeit 1.422s behind Leclerc.

But with no information on the tyre compounds, and teams running varying programmes of set laps and a fixed fuel load, there was no way of telling who was already up to speed and who was struggling for performance.

• 2022 United States Grand Prix - Free Practice 2 results

After wet outings in Singapore and Japan, it was back to blue skies, sunshine and nicely roasting temperatures in Texas, albeit windy as evidenced by the fluttering of the giant state flag flying over the circuit. The session got underway at five o'clock in the evening local time with the sun low in the sky but far from setting. All in all it was perfect conditions for a Pirelli tyre test, which had been postponed due to the inclement conditions last time out at Suzuka. It meant that the normal 60 minute running time for FP2 was increased to 90 minutes - but it also meant that teams would be running different programmes on a variety of candidate compounds throughout, making direct comparisons between teams and drivers problematic.

The first session had seen a full quarter of the line-up replaced by their understudies, so this was the first time on track at the Circuit of the Americas this year for Charles Leclerc, Valtteri Bottas, Daniel Ricciardo, Nicholas Latifi and Kevin Magnussen, while for everyone else it was their second time up to bat in Austin.

Those teams who had run young drivers in FP1 were all allowed extra 2022 tyres and time for the full-time drivers to run their own programme at the start to make up for missing out. The exception was Haas as Antonio Giovinazzi wasn't classed as a rookie but Alex Palou and Théo Pourchaire were, so Ricciardo and Bottas were first to roll off pit lane on regular medium tyres, both drivers understandably keen to get started after having been sidelined earlier.

Leclerc (who had likewise been replaced by Robert Shwartzman in the earlier session) was also out, starting on the current soft tyre to go quickest of those on this year's compounds. His first run was 0.093s slower than Ferrari team mate Carlos Sainz who had set a time of 1:38.763s on the prototype compound, but Leclerc responded and was over a second quicker on his next run. He duly took control of the timesheets with a new benchmark of 1:37.614s, which he soon trimmed further to 1:36.810s before pitting and switching to the medium compound.

Everyone else except for those three drivers had come out and made their first laps using the test compound, Max Verstappen complaining about front end grip on the Red Bull and Lewis Hamilton quickly back on pit lane after the Mercedes' DRS flap was seen opening and closing down the main straight. The one omission from the turn-out was Lance Stroll who remained in the Aston Martin garage with the car up on stands and the front removed. The mechanics weren't looking worried or working on anything and he finally emerged after 25 minutes with plenty of time remaining in the elongated session. There had been no delay for Kevin Magnussen despite Giovinazzi crashing the car in first practice, but he back in after completing just 16 laps reporting "something big is loose around my pedals".

Ricciardo and Bottas had by now moved to the soft tyres as the rest of the drivers continued running with the test tyres, Sainz fastest of that group and over a second quicker than Mick Schumacher and Lando Norris, followed by Verstappen, Hamilton, Pierre Gasly and Sergio Perez. More than a few drivers were struggling for grip on these tyres, with Sainz and Norris among those showing their best 'Tokyo drift' showreel moves with the McLaren also nearly coming awry as he overcooked his entry to pit lane and came within a hair's width of the barrier.

By the halfway point, Leclerc, Bottas and Ricciardo had all moved on to the prototypes and DRS now disabled to allow teams to complete multiple long runs of up to eight laps in controlled conditions, including a fixed fuel load mandated by Pirelli. It meant that no one was improving on their earlier times. Meanwhile it was hard for anyone to draw any firm conclusions when it was unclear which experimental compound had been used by any given driver when they set their best time.

Some drivers were on longer test programmes than others, but most achieved trouble-free running over more than half-race distance. Several teams were able to pack up early, but Magnussen's technical glitches meant he only got to return to the track with just over 15 minutes remaining to complete another eight laps, as much of his schedule as possible before the chequered flag called time on the afternoon's rather unusual proceedings, which had doubtless been valuable for Pirelli but somewhat frustrating for everyone else watching on.

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