Source – Skysports.com
Prior to Friday afternoon’s Sprint Qualifying, Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz led teammate Charles Leclerc and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in the only practice session of the three days held at the Circuit of The Americas. The Sprint format is returning for the United States Grand Prix.
As Formula 1 returned to action following a three-week break, the energy in Austin was palpable, with the Circuit of The Americas setting the stage for an intense United States Grand Prix weekend. All eyes were on the teams as they unleashed their latest developments, but notably, Ferrari and Williams opted to stick to their existing packages while the rest of the grid rolled out upgrades. The anticipation was high from the moment the pit lane light turned green, and it didn’t take long for the drama to unfold.
Mercedes, carrying the weight of expectations with what their Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin dubbed their “most substantial update of the year,” had a rocky start. Both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were immediately caught off guard by the resurfaced COTA track, with each driver suffering spins that showcased the new updates hadn’t quite clicked into place just yet. Hamilton’s spin came first, raising concerns in the garage, and not long after, Russell found himself facing the wrong way as well. These early hiccups were a stark reminder that even substantial updates can be a double-edged sword, particularly when combined with a newly surfaced track.
Meanwhile, most teams chose to focus on the hard tyre for much of the session, working to dial in their setups for the Sprint Qualifying and the Sprint itself. But as the clock ticked down, a switch to soft tyres for many teams sparked a flurry of fast laps. Ferrari, the team that had notably resisted any upgrades for the weekend, saw Carlos Sainz rise to the top of the timesheets with a rapid 1m 33.602s. He edged out his teammate Charles Leclerc by the slimmest of margins—just 0.021s—proving that even without new parts, the Scuderia had managed to extract serious pace from their SF-23 cars.
Max Verstappen, coming off his latest world championship title and armed with an upgraded Red Bull RB20, slotted into P3. However, he found himself two and a half tenths off the pace set by Ferrari, a somewhat surprising gap given Red Bull’s dominance throughout much of the season. While Verstappen didn’t seem overly concerned, his main title rival, Lando Norris, was busy staking his claim for a competitive weekend. Norris waited until the dying moments of the session to put in his flyer, taking P4, just ahead of his McLaren teammate, Oscar Piastri. McLaren had been one of the standout teams in recent races, and their continued pace, even amid the chaos of an evolving track, was notable.
Piastri, however, had a heart-stopping moment when he came in too fast for a pit stop and had to abort the attempt, giving McLaren’s pit crew an unexpected scare. Behind the two papaya-clad cars came the two Mercedes drivers, Hamilton and Russell, whose W15s were clearly a handful on the tricky Austin surface. Despite their spins, they managed to recover and secure P6 and P7, though the tension within the team was evident as they grappled with their updates.
Haas’s Kevin Magnussen provided a bright spot for the American team, putting his VF-24 into P8, while Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso slotted into P9. Red Bull’s second driver for the weekend, Yuki Tsunoda, rounded out the top 10, continuing his steady form in what has been a challenging season.
Just outside the top 10, Nico Hulkenberg managed P11 in the only Haas running an upgraded package, showcasing the team’s focus on making incremental gains as the season nears its conclusion. Pierre Gasly took P12 for Alpine, overcoming an early spin to clock a respectable time in his eye-catching, orange-liveried car, a nod to McLaren’s traditional look. The resemblance to McLaren’s papaya-colored cars made Gasly’s Alpine an unmissable sight on track, but his time lagged behind those who typically challenge for the midfield.
In P13, Liam Lawson, filling in for the rest of the season in place of Daniel Ricciardo at Red Bull’s junior team, continued to impress in his return to the grid. Lawson’s solid lap placed him ahead of Alex Albon, who endured a difficult session in his Williams, struggling to get the best out of his soft tyres. Lance Stroll, piloting the second Aston Martin, found himself mired in P15, unable to replicate Alonso’s pace, while Sergio Perez’s struggles continued, as he languished in P16 in his Red Bull. It was a frustrating session for Perez, who seems to be grappling with an extended slump in form.
Behind Perez, Esteban Ocon took P17 in his Alpine, while the two Kick Saubers of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu took P18 and P20, respectively. Franco Colapinto, Williams’ reserve driver, was sandwiched between the two Saubers in P19, a challenging session for the youngster who continues to gain experience in the demanding world of Formula 1.
As the teams head into Sprint Qualifying and the Sprint race itself, all eyes will be on how they adapt their setups. With the cars set to enter parc ferme conditions, any last-minute adjustments could prove pivotal in determining the outcome of both the Sprint and the Grand Prix itself. Ferrari’s refusal to bring upgrades paid dividends in practice, but with the evolving track conditions and fierce competition from the likes of Red Bull and McLaren, the stage is set for a thrilling weekend in Austin. The countdown to the Sprint is on, and the excitement is just beginning to build.
