This session has finished. No further updates will be posted.
First practice for the 2024 United States Grand Prix is coming up next
We’ve got a crucial hour of running coming up. As this is a sprint race weekend it’s the only opportunity teams have to practice, though they are allowed to change their cars between tomorrow’s sprint race and the qualifying session for the grand prix.Almost all of the teams have new parts to assess in this session. Ferrari and Williams are the only ones who haven’t brought any upgrades. Here’s what all the others have got.
There are no practice drivers running in this session but we do have a change to the roster: Liam Lawson has returned to RB to replace Daniel Ricciardo, who was dropped after the last race in Singapore. Lawson didn’t do this race last year, however, so he’ll have to get up to speed with the track quickly.
Everyone on track with the exception of Zhou Guanyu in the Sauber. Of those, everyone on hards except for Valtteri Bottas on mediums.
Lambiase to Max Verstappen: “There you go, you know what the state of play is this weekend.”
The Mercedes drivers top the times initially, then Verstappen goes quicker with a 1’37.593, a tenth of a second quicker than George Russell
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
The track is continuing to get quicker and tCharles Leclerc takes over at the top with a 1’37.724, a hefty eight-tenths quicker than the Red Bull.
All 20 cars are now circulating as Zhou joins the track on softs.
Lando Norris pops into second place but it’s close – he’s just a thousandth of a second quicker than Leclerc. Carlos Sainz Jnr then beats them both with a 1’36.140.
Pierre Gasly has a brief spin at turn one. This is the first time their re-liveried orange car has appeared on the cameras and it’s very tricky to distinguish it from a McLaren.
A dramatic 360 degree spin for Lewis Hamilton in the Esses. He urges his team to “check these damn tyres” when he comes back in.
Verstappen returns to the top of the times with a 1’35.538.
Sainz goes quickest of all in the first two sectors, a 1’35.231 puts him on top by three-tenths of a second from Verstappen.
Russell’s had a spin now, he’s facing the wrong way at turn one. He spins the car around and gets going again.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Norris puts the McLaren into fourth but he’s half a second off Sainz.
Leclerc makes it a Ferrari one-two at the top of the times, the new benchmark is a 1’34.966.
In among the usual suspects at the top, Bottas is an encouraging sixth in the updated Sauber (Zhou has the older specification) and Yuki Tsunoda is eighth for RB. Lawson is within half a second of him in 12th place.
We have the first of the front runners out on softs and it’s Verstappen. He is 0.572s off Leclerc’s benchmark pace on the hard tyre compounds.
Verstappen goes quickest of all on his softs with a 1’33.855, that’s 0.862s up on Sainz’s mark. “Tyres were a little bit cold to start the lap,” he reports.
Perez tried the softs as well but was only able to match Sainz’s time on hards at first. Now he improves to a 1’34.638 which makes it a Red Bull one-two but with 0.783 seconds between them.
Good effort from Lawson so far who’s two-tenths of a second up on Tsunoda, having done two laps more than his team mate, both on hards.
The bad news for Lawson is he’s got a new power unit this weekend which incurs multiple new penalties and means he will have to start the grand prix – not the sprint race – from the back of the grid.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
A brief off for Alexander Albon at turn 12. He’s down in 16th at the moment on a 1’36.868, Williams like Ferrari not having brought any upgrades this weekend.
Soft tyres galore now with just under nine minutes left. Hamilton flirts with the track limits at turn 15, looks a bit loose and only manages second, 1’34.314, 0.459s off Verstappen.
Lawson goes a strong third. Sainz musters the fastest middle sector time, then goes on to displace Verstappen with a 1’33.602 with a health seven tenths of a second over Hamilton.
Alonso beats Hamilton for third place with a 1’34.112. Piastri has a sketchy moment as he nearly hits the pit lane entry barrier. Virtual Safety Car now deployed. That forced Leclerc to abandon his flying lap.
Tsunoda pops up to fourth, he’s just over a tenth of a second faster than Lawson. Russell improves to seventh after being held up by Colapinto. Norris is now out on a set of softs. Piastri goes beyond track limits at the exit of turn 12 on this lap.
Piastri does a 1’33.908 for a temporary third place, which becomes fourth as Leclerc goes second, two-hundredths of a second of his team mate. Hamilton improves to fifth, three-tenths of a second off Sainz.
Norris, with plenty of flow-vis on his car, goes fourth with a 1’33.868
The chequered flag falls and it’s a one-two for Ferrari:
1. Carlos Sainz Jnr: 1’33.602
2. Charles Leclerc: 1’33.623
3. Max Verstappen: 1’33.855
4. Lando Norris: 1’33.868
5. Oscar Piastri: 1’33.908
6. Lewis Hamilton: 1’33.963
7. George Russell: 1’34.093
8. Kevin Magnussen: 1’34.096
9. Fernando Alonso: 1’34.112
10. Yuki Tsunoda: 1’34.313
11. Nico Hulkenberg: 1’34.364
12. Pierre Gasly: 1’34.375
13. Liam Lawson: 1’34.443
14. Alexander Albon: 1’34.618
15. Lance Stroll: 1’34.619
16. Sergio Perez: 1’34.638
17. Esteban Ocon: 1’34.806
18. Valtteri Bottas: 1’35.041
19. Franco Colapinto: 1’35.248
20. Zhou Guanyu: 1’37.219
An unusual incident after the chequered flag: Albon has spun at turn one after performing his practice start. The Williams driver is on his way again.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
2024 United States Grand Prix
- McLaren insist stewards made ‘provable error’ after losing bid for review of Norris’ penalty
- Why McLaren’s focus on Verstappen’s driving failed to overturn Norris’ penalty
- Stewards reject McLaren’s request to review Norris’ United States GP penalty
- McLaren know Norris’ penalty is likely to stand – so what do they hope to gain?
- McLaren request review of Norris’ penalty for off-track pass on Verstappen
