UNITED STATES GP – Max Verstappen a tenth faster than Lewis Hamilton in practice
Max Verstappen was fastest in practice for the United States Grand Prix, the three-time world champion set a 35.915 which put him a tenth and a half faster than Charles Leclerc. Verstappen looked comfortable going into qualifying later this afternoon in Austin.
Lewis Hamilton put his Mercedes third two hundredths ahead of the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez. Leclerc was roughly half a tenth off in each sector but Austin is another circuit which favours Red Bull, as Verstappen looks to do three wins in a row at the Circuit of the Americas.
Hamilton described the development as “our last big update, or the biggest of the large updates through the season… and hopefully this really kind of tips the needle a little bit and helps us in the right direction of where we want to pursue next year”. But the seven-time Champion could have gone second running wide at Turn Twelve.
The first signs were promising. Hamilton set the fastest times of all in the first and second sectors of his lap, before fading a little in the final few corners. It could also boost them in the fight for second in the drivers and constructors, with Hamilton thirty points behind Perez.
With Verstappen sealing his third time a fortnight ago in Lusail, the focus has shifted to the battle between Hamilton and Perez for second, Mercedes this weekend bringing more updates to their floor.
Aston Martin, Haas and Alpha Tauri are the other teams with major upgrades – Aston Martin with a new floor edge, Haas a complete revamp of aerodynamic philosophy and Alpha Tauri the latest in a series of developments aimed at upping their performance
With qualifying hours away the later part of practice saw several improvements, but no one could respond to Verstappen. Alex Albon was first to improve, doing a 36.492 however the british-Thai driver had to settle for sixth by the end of the session half a second off.
Kevin Magnussen put his Haas fifth going a quarter of a second behind Perez, ahead of the teams home race. The Mexican three tenths off teammate Verstappen, while the second Mercedes of George Russell was sixth. Perez needs a strong weekend with speculation if he loses second in the drivers he could lose his seat to Daniel Ricciardo.
Haas are another team to bring upgrades this weekend, they have the downwashed side pods similar to other teams, that allowed him to go two thousandths ahead of Russell. Nico Hulkenberg ninth, a tenth and a half behind Carlos Sainz. The Ferrari driver struggled with his stiffy strung car but still managed incremental gains over the course of the session. Pierre Gasly completing the top ten.
Ricciardo was back on track for AlphaTauri for the first time in two months after recovering from a broken bone in his left hand. The Australian made a solid return in fourteenth place and completed 23 laps in the hour-long session without any apparent problems.
Ricciardo going fourteenth six hundredths behind teammate Yuki Tsunoda. It was a decent start to Logan Sargent’s second home race going eleventh as he tries to hang onto his Williams seat for next year. The Floridian splitting the two Alpine’s nearly three-tenths behind Gasly and eight hundredths ahead of Esteban Ocon.
It was a low key session for McLaren Lando Norris fifteenth, with Oscar Piastri nineteenth. The Qatar sprint winner having the only dramatic moment in the session after running wide at Turn Eight, he ran wide which put him on the grass as he wrestled with the wheel to reclaim control. He eventually managed to find enough grip to quell his bucking McLaren and did well to keep it out of the gravel.
Guanyu Zhou was sixteenth a tenth ahead of Alfa Romeo teammate Valtteri Bottas. It was a low key session for Aston Martin Fernando Alonso eighteenth, while teammate Lance Stroll was last after his running was restricted to two laps.