Leclerc Leads Verstappen in US GP Practice as Ferrari Debuts Upgrades

WHO:

The Race - Red Bull technical director Pierre Wache said low-speed performance was the main area the team was focused on improving.

The Race - Leclerc said Friday had started with “a good balance” and that rivals appeared to gain more performance between Friday and Saturday.

The Race - Norris said McLaren’s car was “very difficult to drive” and that consistent pace was difficult to access.

The Race - Cadillac chief racing officer Marc Hynes said its experimental work was intended to challenge the car’s aerodynamic concept and compare CFD and wind-tunnel predictions with track results.

The Race - McLaren chief technical officer Rob Marshall said the team’s Austin updates provided a measurable benefit; Cadillac chief racing officer Marc Hynes described the team’s experimental work.

The Race - Fernando Alonso said he expected “nice surprises” at the US GP; Aston Martin chief trackside officer Mike Krack had called for expectations to be managed.

The Race - Isack Hadjar described his car as “a disaster” and said it was “undrivable” on soft tyres, with severe front-end grip loss.

The Race - Sergio Perez ran an experimental floor, while Valtteri Bottas tested different front wings and roll stiffnesses.

The Race - Charles Leclerc of Ferrari set the fastest time in first practice; Max Verstappen of Red Bull was second, 0.084 seconds behind.

Autosport - Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton drove Ferrari’s upgraded car; Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri drove for McLaren; George Russell and Kimi Antonelli for Mercedes; and Verstappen and Isack Hadjar for Red Bull.

The Race - Gabriel Bortoleto led the midfield for Audi in eighth; Arvid Lindblad and Liam Lawson completed the top 10 for Racing Bulls.

Autosport - Cadillac’s Colton Herta took the reins of Sergio Perez’s car as the sole rookie runner in the session.

The Race - Other drivers named in the results were Ollie Bearman, Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll, Pierre Gasly, Esteban Ocon, Franco Colapinto, Nico Hulkenberg, Carlos Sainz, Valtteri Bottas and Alex Albon.

WHAT:

The Race - In FP2, Leclerc’s theoretical best lap was 1m35.291s; Antonelli’s was 1m35.333s, Verstappen’s 1m35.438s and Russell’s 1m35.657s.

The Race - FP2 long-run averages were Norris 1m41.289s over nine hard-tyre laps, Verstappen 1m41.481s over 11 soft-tyre laps, Leclerc 1m41.503s over 15 soft-tyre laps and Antonelli 1m41.521s over 12 medium-tyre laps.

The Race - Pirelli expected hard tyres to play only a limited role in race strategy; a one-stop using soft and medium tyres was considered most likely.

The Race - Aston Martin’s Alonso and Stroll were inside the theoretical Q2 cutoff in both practice sessions.

The Race - McLaren’s brake changes included aerodynamic improvements for flow conditioning around the wheels and wake control.

The Race - Norris’s FP2 qualifying simulations were poor; he went nearly a tenth slower than his FP1 time and called the car “very difficult to drive.”

The Race - Leclerc topped both Friday practice sessions; he said Ferrari had started with a good balance but expected rivals to gain more performance before qualifying.

The Race - Aston Martin’s Alonso and Lance Stroll were both inside the theoretical Q2 cutoff in both sessions.

The Race - Cadillac said it completed more work on a Friday than ever before; its tests aimed to challenge the car’s aerodynamic concept and compare CFD and wind-tunnel predictions with track results.

The Race - Gabriel Bortoleto was due to serve a 20-place grid penalty; Arvid Lindblad faced a five-place penalty for taking a sixth internal combustion engine.

The Race - Colton Herta was 0.926 seconds behind Cadillac teammate Valtteri Bottas.

Autosport - Ferrari’s Leclerc recorded a 1m36.61s opening benchmark on medium tyres, 0.074 seconds slower than teammate Lewis Hamilton’s first personal best.

The Race - FP1 order was Leclerc, Verstappen, Norris, Russell, Antonelli, Hamilton, Piastri, Bortoleto, Lindblad and Lawson. Leclerc’s time was 1m36.052s; the listed gaps were +0.084s, +0.245s, +0.326s, +0.481s, +0.503s, +0.734s, +0.943s, +1.011s and +1.257s.

The Race - Bearman was 11th (+1.613s); Alonso 12th (+1.636s); Stroll 13th (+1.731s); Hadjar 14th (+1.738s); Gasly 15th (+1.749s); Ocon 16th (+1.844s); Colapinto 17th (+2.069s); Hulkenberg 18th (+2.070s); Sainz 19th (+2.794s); Bottas 20th (+3.001s); Herta 21st (+3.927s); and Albon 22nd (+31.812s).

Autosport - Ferrari’s Texas aero package revised the floor, bargeboard, sidepod and diffuser. The team described the improvement as minor; the package was understood to be its final round of 2026 aero upgrades.

Autosport - Verstappen’s Red Bull had an additional update to its new front wing. His lap that could have put him ahead of Leclerc was deleted for track limits.

The Race - Russell had an early front-wing issue that caused understeer and later flat-spotted a set of hard tyres. Hamilton went wide at Turn 1 and had another soft-tyre lap deleted for track limits.

The Race - Williams ran an aero-testing program: Albon completed 17 laps without a competitive time, while he and Sainz repeatedly came out and pitted.

WHERE:

The Race - Practice took place at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.

Autosport - The circuit is 5.5 kilometres long and has an undulating layout and bumpy surface.

WHY:

The Race - Teams reported difficulty setting ride height on Austin’s bumpy circuit amid numerous upgrades and car changes.

The Race - Ferrari lost just over six tenths to Verstappen on the straights, while Red Bull gained around six tenths on Leclerc there.

Autosport - Leclerc cautioned against high expectations, saying, “I feel like the others have more potential to unlock,” and identified Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen as appearing very strong.

Formula 1 - Leclerc said Ferrari’s upgrade was “definitely not what everybody thinks in terms of upgrade and lap time gained”; he said the car’s good balance and starting in a good window had paid off.

Formula 1 - Ferrari had not won a race since Round 9 in Great Britain, and team principal Fred Vasseur also urged realism about the team’s chances.

Autosport - Ferrari was seeking to deny Verstappen and Red Bull a third consecutive Grand Prix win.

Autosport - Herta was given additional Friday practice sessions to collect the remaining FIA superlicence points after a curtailed FP1 in Italy.

Autosport - Williams conducted aero testing to support development of its 2027 car.

HOW:

The Race - Teams initially split tyre strategies: Ferrari and McLaren used mediums while Mercedes and Red Bull used hards; all teams later tried soft tyres.

The Race - Mercedes’ change of plan kept Russell on hards and switched Antonelli to softs, confusing Antonelli, who had expected to use hards.

Autosport - Leclerc improved his benchmark by seven tenths after switching to soft tyres; Verstappen moved into second after addressing early balance and steering-rack problems.

The Race - Bortoleto began the session with a large aerodynamic rake fitted to his Audi; Cadillac also used a gate-like aerodynamic device.

Charles Leclerc led both Friday practice sessions at Austin’s Circuit of the Americas, with Max Verstappen second in the opening hour, just 0.084 seconds back. Leclerc said Ferrari had a good balance, but warned rivals could unlock more pace before qualifying. Ferrari’s updated car brought changes to the floor, sidepod and diffuser, though the team described the gains as minor. In second practice, theoretical lap times put Leclerc ahead of Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli and Verstappen. McLaren’s Lando Norris, however, called his car very difficult to drive, while Red Bull’s Pierre Wache said improving low-speed performance remained a priority. Teams also wrestled with ride height on the bumpy circuit. Cadillac used the sessions to test its aerodynamic concept, and rookie Colton Herta drove Sergio Perez’s car. A soft-to-medium one-stop strategy is considered most likely for the race.