Cloudy. Dry. Air +25C, highway +38C
As the weekend progresses with sprints on Saturday, Friday’s single session is very important. Within an hour you have to check numerous new products, determine settings and assess tire wear, and this is if there are no breaks, and after a few hours the main events begin.
For the stage in Austin, the asphalt was changed again, which also had to be done. The teams had only lead drivers; everyone except the Sauber drivers drove the first series on Hard.
A few incidents took place on the slippery asphalt. Piastri locked his tires in Turn 12, Gasly in Turn 19. Hamilton spun on a bump in the first corner and returned to the pits to have the mechanics check the underbody. A few minutes later, Russell turned around in the same spot. Norris ran wide into Turn 9 and handed the car to the mechanics to adjust the suspension settings. The cars were not damaged and all drivers returned to the track.
Fifteen minutes before the end of the session, Zhou turned into the pit lane due to problems with the hydraulics and the power plant lost power – and never drove away again.
At the end of practice, the riders switched to Soft to prepare for qualifying. Piastri attempted to pit but missed, cutting the first corner and returning to the track.
Carlos Sainz showed the best time, completing a lap in 1:33.602 – over a second faster than last year’s pole position’s Charles Leclerc. The Monegasque lost only two hundredths in a fast lap, everyone else lost more than two tenths.
Free training results
| Pilot | Team | Time | Difference | Circles |
| 1. K. Sainz | Ferrari | 1:33,602 | – | 25 |
| 2. S. Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:33,623 | +0.021 | 27 |
| 3. M. Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:33,855 | +0.253 | 23 |
| 4. L.Norris | McLaren | 1:33,868 | +0.266 | 25 |
| 5. O. Piastri | McLaren | 1:33,908 | +0.306 | 26 |
| 6. L. Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:33,963 | +0.361 | 22 |
| 7. D. Russell | Mercedes | 1:34,093 | +0.491 | 27 |
| 8. K. Magnussen | Hare | 1:34,096 | +0.494 | 24 |
| 9. F. Alonso | Aston Martin | 1:34.112 | +0.510 | 24 |
| 10. Yu.Tsunoda | RB | 1:34,313 | +0.711 | 20 |
| 11. N. Hulkenberg | Hare | 1:34,364 | +0.762 | 24 |
| 12. P. Gasly | Alps | 1:34,375 | +0.773 | 24 |
| 13. L. Lawson | RB | 1:34,443 | +0.841 | 28 |
| 14. A. Elbon | Williams | 1:34,618 | +1,016 | 26 |
| 15. L. Walk | Aston Martin | 1:34,619 | +1,017 | 24 |
| 16. C. Perez | Red Bull | 1:34,638 | +1,036 | 24 |
| 17. E.Okon | Alps | 1:34,806 | +1,204 | 24 |
| 18. V. Bottas | Sauber | 1:35,041 | +1,439 | 26 |
| 19. F. Colapinto | Williams | 1:35,248 | +1,646 | 27 |
| 20. G.Zhou | Sauber | 1:37,219 | +3,617 | 15 |
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
