Sainz leads Ferrari 1-2 in U.S. GP practice

Ferrari comfortably topped the sole practice session at the United States Grand Prix, with Carlos Sainz setting the pace ahead of teammate Charles Leclerc.

Despite neither car featuring any updates on a weekend dominated by upgrades, Sainz set the pace at 1m33.602s early in the performance runs, which came in the last 15 minutes of the hour-long session.

Leclerc was among the last drivers to set a competitive time. On a track that appeared to feature significant evolution, he lapped 0.021s slower than his teammate.

Max Verstappen was third fastest but unusually set his fastest lap just past the halfway mark of the session, missing what should have been the best of the conditions. In his minimally updated RB20 he was 0.253s slower than the benchmark.

McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri following in fourth and fifth, 0.266s and 0.306s off the pace, the pair setting their laps at the very end of the hour.

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Circuit of The Americas has again been partially resurfaced, with the section from Turn 16 to Turn 3 and then Turn 9 to Turn 12 much smoother and greener than the legacy tarmac. The slick new surface proved troublesome, however, with several drivers overcooking their entry into the first turn, where a stiff breeze was blowing across the braking zone.

But the biggest off came on an old section of the track, when Lewis Hamilton lost control of his Mercedes bottoming out over the bump on the apex of Turn 3. He pirouetted over the curbs in a plume of tire smoke but managed to avoid the distant barriers. Remarkably, he was able to re-use his set of hard tires after precautionary car checks in pit lane.

Hamilton ended the session sixth and 0.361s off the pace, 0.13s ahead of teammate George Russell, who complained of poor handling on low fuel.

Kevin Magnussen was an impressive eighth for Haas and just 0.494s off the pace, beating Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin in ninth. Yuki Tsunoda completed the top 10 for RB in 10th.

Nico Hulkenberg following in 11th ahead of Pierre Gasly and full-time debutant Liam Lawson, the New Zealander replacing Daniel Ricciardo at RB for the rest of the season.

Alex Albon was 14th for Williams after ruining his first flying lap on softs cutting the grass at Turn 12. He still finished ahead of Lance Stroll and Sergio Perez, who was 16th in the sister Red Bull Racing car, 1.036s off the pace after complaining of bouncing in the slow-speed turns.

Esteban Ocon was 17th ahead of Valtteri Bottas, Franco Colapinto and Zhou Guanyu, who ended his session early with a power loss.