Ferrari drivers Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc emerged comfortably quickest in the sole practice session for this weekend's United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen broke out the soft compound to put him third quickest ahead of scrappy sessions for the two McLaren cars of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
Lewis Hamilton and George Russell also had their hands full in the upgraded Mercedes, but were still 6th and 7th at the chequered flag despite both going for spins early in the session on the resurfaced circuit.
2024 United States Grand Prix - Free Practice 1 results
It had been a very long break between races since Formula 1 last rolled out on track in Singapore, but finally it was time for everyone to report for duty at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas for the first of the last batch of six races of 2024
Lando Norris was first to get underway for McLaren, but it was Max Verstappen and the two Mercedes drivers of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton who took early charge, all of them on hard tyres for the shakedown. Last year's pole sitter Charles Leclerc then pipped all three with a time of 1:36.724s, nearly a second ahead of the rest, with his Ferrari team mate Carlos Sainz soon slipping into second.
Before long it was Verstappen and Russell back on top as the track started to acquire some grip. The circuit had been largely resurfaced since last year, and some strong winds gave an additional a challenge to some of the drivers including Williams' Franco Colapinto. There was also a spin for Pierre Gasly in turn 1 but the Alpine was able to get back underway without drama. Nico Hulkenberg likewise run wide through turn 12 as the Haas was caught out by the wind.
Hamilton was another to have a couple of wayward moments, including going for a full spin over a bump in the Esses. Russell reported that he'd experienced a similar scare at the same place, before promptly going for a proper 180 spin of his own in turn 1 leaving him rolling back down the the hill before he could resume. By now, Sainz had gone top with a time of 1:35.231s putting him three tenths ahead of Verstappen, but that was soon pipped by Leclerc posting an improved time of 1:34.966s.
The times continued to tumble as the track gradually rubbered in. Both Red Bulls were soon back out on soft compound for some proper qualifying runs, Verstappen leaping in front on 1:33.855s despite complaining that the tyres were still a little cold to start the lap. Sergio Perez tied Sainz' latest time on the hard tyres for a share of second place, but that was still almost a second slower than Verstappen.
Hamilton was back in action after his earlier mishap, and the track was soon looking crowded although few felt the need to follow Red Bull's switch to softs. With less than 15 minutes remaining, Williams pair Colapinto and Alex Albon did finally make the change: Albon's lap looked promising until he ran wide at turn 19. Colapinto showed what was possible as he leapt up to fifth behind the Red Bulls and Ferraris.
Others took their hint, and the final ten minutes saw a flurry of fliers. Sainz took over at the top with Fernando Alonso up to third in the Aston Martin ahead of the latest Hamilton which moved the Mercedes ahead of Verstappen - until the Red Bull responded and went back up to second quickest. He was still a quarter of a second off Sainz' 1:33.602s. Further back, Gasly had gone fifth and quicker than Liam Lawson, with Albon seventh on his encore lap.
Leclerc came within 0.021s of catching his team mate for FP1 honours and settled instead into P2 ahead of Verstappen. The two McLarens had scrappy finishes to the session but were still able to finish P4 and P5 for Norris and Oscar Piastri respectively. That put therm ahead of Hamilton and Russell, with Kevin Magnussen, Fernando Alonso and RB's Yuki Tsunoda rounding out the top ten with a spread of just over seven tenths covering them.
Hulkenberg and Gasly were close behind followed by Lawson and Albon. It had been an anonymous session for Lance Stroll who finished in P15 a second off the top pace. It was a disappointing outcome for Perez who was 16th ahead of Esteban Ocon and Valtteri Bottas. Colapinto moved up to P19 by the chequered flag in the absence of Sauber's Zhou Guanyu whose engine wasn't recharging properly, leaving him down in P20.
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