Sainz leads Ferrari practice 1-2, Hamilton escapes high-speed spin
Carlos Sainz headlined the sole practice session for the United States Grand Prix in a Ferrari 1-2, as Charles Leclerc was just 0.021s behind his team-mate.
Leclerc had led the way in the hard-tyre runs in the opening half-hour of the session, setting a 1m34.966s which looked as though it would be the benchmark for the subsequent soft-tyre runs – although Sainz went marginally quicker to set a 1m34.717s on the hardest compound.
Max Verstappen then posted a 1m33.855s on the softs, almost 0.8s faster than Sergio Perez’s respective run on the softest tyre as the Red Bulls went early on their qualifying simulations.
It took until the final 10 minutes of the session before the majority of the field decided to partake in performance runs, and Carlos Sainz then found a quarter of a second over Verstappen to post a 1m33.602s headliner.
Leclerc moved into second place with just over a minute remaining in the session, just two-hundredths shy of his team-mate, although the Monegasque was forced into an extra cooldown lap when a virtual safety car appeared to interrupt his preparations for an earlier flyer.
Verstappen’s early soft-tyre effort was good enough for third as the two McLarens, bearing a series of upgrades, were fourth and fifth; Lando Norris went too deep into Turn 12 and lost time on his lap, while Piastri appeared to defy track limits at Turn 19.
Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were sixth and seventh, but both Mercedes drivers had spins throughout the session as the upgraded W15 car looked difficult to handle.
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
Hamilton was hurled off the road by the bump in the road at Turn 4 and avoided coming to blows with Nico Hulkenberg, while Russell suffered a spin at Turn 1 as he struggled with the uphill corner.
Kevin Magnussen was eighth fastest over Fernando Alonso, while Yuki Tsunoda completed the top 10 over Hulkenberg and Pierre Gasly.
Liam Lawson was 13th in his first F1 session in over a year, 0.15s clear of the 14th-placed Alex Albon.
