Lando Norris led the only practice session at the United States Grand Prix ahead of sprint qualifying later today.
Norris was one of the last frontrunners to set a time on the fast-moving circuit, which was a blistering 111 degrees F with an ambient temperature of 86 degrees F. The McLaren driver’s best lap of 1:33.294 seconds included a purple time in the final sector, although the Brit was off the road at Turn 19 on his way to the checkered flag.
An indication of the extent of the track evolution was Nico Hülkenberg ending the session as Norris’s closest challenger, with the Sauber driver running just 0.255 seconds off the pace and completing a lap as the hour passed.
Oscar Piastri needed a second lap on soft tires late in the session to match Norris, as his first lap was well behind his teammate’s pace. The title leader’s second attempt left him 0.279 seconds behind.
Fernando Alonso was the first pace setter, despite being one of the first drivers to switch from hard to soft tires. He finished 0.345 seconds off the pace, in line with Aston Martin’s usual approach of showing more of his hand during training.
Max Verstappen ended the session unhappy with his car and complained to his engineer that it was “just lying on the bottom” and that the setup was “way too aggressive”. The Dutchman was 0.354 seconds off the pace and was most out of control in the middle sector, which includes the long corners of Turns 7-9 and the long straight.
Alex Albon was sixth for Williams and 0.626 seconds behind Norris’s benchmark.
George Russell and Lewis Hamilton were closely matched at 0.637 seconds and 0.671 seconds off the pace, but Mercedes and Ferrari sent their drivers out on medium tires respectively for their qualifying laps. The medium tire is mandatory for the first two parts of the sprint qualifying and will probably also be the tire of choice for the sprint race.
Isack Hadjar was ninth, also on the medium tyre, 0.861 seconds off the pace after complaining of a drive unit problem costing him time.
Oliver Bearman completed the top 10 for Haas at a pace of 1.074 seconds, one place 0.035 seconds ahead of teammate Esteban Ocon, who appeared to have a bizarre stuck throttle problem earlier in the session that saw him sail into the gravel at the first corner.
Gabriel Bortoleto was 12th for Sauber, ahead of Red Bull Racing’s Yuki Tsunoda, who was 1.2 seconds behind and 0.883 seconds slower than teammate Verstappen.
Lance Stroll finished 14th for Aston Martin after causing a red flag 5 meters out when his car threw a piece of bodywork over the curb at Turn 19.
Liam Lawson was 15th for Racing Bulls on the medium tyre, ahead of Franco Colapinto, Pierre Gasly and Kimi Antonelli, who failed to complete a clear lap on the medium compound.
Carlos Sainz finished 19th with no representative time after a gearbox problem ended his session after just 30 minutes, before he had the chance to move off the hard tyre.
Charles Leclerc was classified last after also suffering an apparent gearbox problem after bolting on the medium tire for his qualifying simulation run. He reported smelling oil before returning to the pit lane.
RESULTS
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