Lewis Hamilton put Mercedes on top in second practice at the Circuit of the Americas as three different teams filled the top three places.
Hamilton’s flying effort on soft tyres surprised Valtteri Bottas who could only manage the fifth-fastest time, eight-tenths of a second off his team mate. “Where is the lap time?” asked Bottas on the radio? “I don’t understand. On the straights?” His race engineer suggested Hamilton had benefitted from a tow, but also pointed out a few corners where Bottas could improve.The Mercedes pair were separated by Max Verstappen and the Ferrari pair, with Charles Leclerc the quickest of those three. He found most of his time in the first sector of the lap, but Hamilton took it all back and more in the middle sector, where only Verstappen got within half a second of him.
Hamilton’s pace appeared to be too much for the Ferraris during their long runs at the end of the session. Told his rival was lapping at 1’39.7, Leclerc replied: “No way I can do that.” Another series of messages revealed Ferrari were concerned about the timing of Leclerc’s up-shifts at the exit of turn nine, where a particularly severe bump has appeared on the track, possibly due to reliability concerns.
Vettel was having trouble as well. He spun off at turn 13, though it didn’t prevent him from completing his run.
The midfield was even more evenly matched, with five different cars filling the next five spaces behind the usual top three teams. Half a second covered Pierre Gasly in seventh back to Lando Norris in 4th.
After declaring himself happy with his car’s balance in first practice, Romain Grosjean’s day took a turn for the worse when he spun into the barriers between turns five and six. The front of the Haas was extensively damaged, and the session was stopped while his car was recovered.
Although the cool conditions continued to catch drivers out – Antonio Giovinazzi also had a spin, and several drivers bounced through the run-off areas – no one else made it as far as the barriers.
The Williams drivers filled the bottom two places as usual. George Russell, 19th, complained of a strange noise from his gearbox during one of his practice starts.
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| Pos. | No. | Driver | Car | Best lap | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’33.232 | 34 | |
| 2 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1’33.533 | 0.301 | 33 |
| 3 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-Honda | 1’33.547 | 0.315 | 28 |
| 4 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1’33.890 | 0.658 | 35 |
| 5 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1’34.045 | 0.813 | 34 |
| 6 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Red Bull-Honda | 1’34.434 | 1.202 | 32 |
| 7 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Toro Rosso-Honda | 1’34.509 | 1.277 | 31 |
| 8 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | McLaren-Renault | 1’34.667 | 1.435 | 34 |
| 9 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Racing Point-Mercedes | 1’34.744 | 1.512 | 29 |
| 10 | 99 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 1’34.839 | 1.607 | 29 |
| 11 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | 1’34.924 | 1.692 | 29 |
| 12 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso-Honda | 1’34.975 | 1.743 | 36 |
| 13 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 1’34.988 | 1.756 | 32 |
| 14 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Renault | 1’35.025 | 1.793 | 30 |
| 15 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Racing Point-Mercedes | 1’35.109 | 1.877 | 26 |
| 16 | 7 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 1’35.387 | 2.155 | 34 |
| 17 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | 1’35.442 | 2.210 | 28 |
| 18 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Haas-Ferrari | 1’35.789 | 2.557 | 4 |
| 19 | 63 | George Russell | Williams-Mercedes | 1’36.749 | 3.517 | 37 |
| 20 | 88 | Robert Kubica | Williams-Mercedes | 1’37.283 | 4.051 | 33 |
Second practice visual gaps
Lewis Hamilton – 1’33.232
+0.301 Charles Leclerc – 1’33.533
+0.315 Max Verstappen – 1’33.547
+0.658 Sebastian Vettel – 1’33.890
+0.813 Valtteri Bottas – 1’34.045
+1.202 Alexander Albon – 1’34.434
+1.277 Pierre Gasly – 1’34.509
+1.435 Carlos Sainz Jnr – 1’34.667
+1.512 Lance Stroll – 1’34.744
+1.607 Antonio Giovinazzi – 1’34.839
+1.692 Daniel Ricciardo – 1’34.924
+1.743 Daniil Kvyat – 1’34.975
+1.756 Nico Hulkenberg – 1’34.988
+1.793 Lando Norris – 1’35.025
+1.877 Sergio Perez – 1’35.109
+2.155 Kimi Raikkonen – 1’35.387
+2.210 Kevin Magnussen – 1’35.442
+2.557 Romain Grosjean – 1’35.789
+3.517 George Russell – 1’36.749
+4.051 Robert Kubica – 1’37.283
Drivers more then ten seconds off the pace omitted.
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DAllein (@)
1st November 2019, 21:41
If the tow is THAT strong, I suspect Monza 2.0 in Qualifying…
Though at this moment I want to believe it is just the inspiration of something very special at the end of the weekend, which gives Lewis a boost, in addition to this being his “favorite” track (in the meaning of suiting his style and liking).
Jere (@jerejj)
1st November 2019, 21:47
@dallein The number of corners on this circuit is significantly higher to that of Monza, though, and given how many of them are high-to-medium speed ones, trying to stay within two, three seconds of the car ahead just for that one ‘long’ straight wouldn’t really be worth it, so I doubt that would happen. All the remaining tracks, yes, have at least one long full-throttle section, but a lot of corners as well, so not worth to attempt to stay within the same distance of the car in front as in somewhere like Monza.
Olivier
1st November 2019, 21:49
The title of the article pretty much sums up the whole 2019 season
isaac (@invincibleisaac)
1st November 2019, 21:52
Just my thinking! Probably last season as well
GechiChan (@gechichan)
1st November 2019, 22:09
haha, excelent!
Martin
1st November 2019, 23:06
My god if the FIA used that as the tag line for the 2019 season review I’d frame the DVD box.
Ninjenius (@ninjenius)
2nd November 2019, 8:21
Roses are red.
Violets are blue.
Hamilton quickest as Vettel spins and Grosjean crashes.
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
1st November 2019, 22:16
I was watching live feed, Hamilton onboards were amazing, camera is really good now, field of view perfect. I could almost feel the speed. Left, right, left, left, right, oh my, the corners coming and coming, then the back stepped out… amazing. Then they did action replay from outside camera, boring as hell. But onboard really gave it justice.
Aldoid
1st November 2019, 23:14
Yeah, those onboard laps from Hamilton’s long run were spectacular.
AMG44 (@amg44)
1st November 2019, 22:40
Lewis got a very good tow from one of the Williams on his fastest lap. Come on Max have a clean race and it could very well be Lewis vs Max for the win. Redbull looks to be the best car at handling those bumps.
Jim from US (@jimfromus)
2nd November 2019, 0:28
Ham’s engineer was on the radio saying, “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.”
dutchtreat (@dutchtreat)
2nd November 2019, 1:03
US GP 2019
Lewis Hamilton wins.
Max Verstappen ruins his race.
Have a nice day.
Todfod (@todfod)
2nd November 2019, 8:34
What about Ferrari ruins Leclerc’s race.. And Vettel spins?
Lums (@lums)
2nd November 2019, 10:06
…and Grosjean crashes, Kubica comes last.
Dewald Nel (@ho3n3r)
2nd November 2019, 10:42
And “We have the best fans here”
Samantha (@talcumpowder)
2nd November 2019, 11:41
Surely this isn’t the first time you’ve used this title.