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Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz took top spot ahead of team-mate Charles Leclerc in the first and only practice session for the 2024 United States Formula 1 Grand Prix - with title contender Max Verstappen third and 0.253s off the pace.
Leclerc led Sainz in the first half of the session when the field was lapping on hard tyres, while Verstappen put his qualifying runs in early on soft tyres.
Meanwhile Verstappen’s title rival Lando Norris and his team-mate Oscar Piastri were off the leading pace on hard tyres - although they were testing a new front wing.
Ferrari then set the pace on the soft-tyred runs with a few minutes remaining. Sainz set the fastest time and Leclerc was just 0.021s behind. McLaren was narrowly off Verstappen’s pace with rival Norris in fourth and Piastri fifth.
FP1 started amid an emerging story surrounding Red Bull’s controversial ‘bib’ device. The FIA took action to stop this ride height device from being exploited in parc ferme conditions.
Furthermore, there was a host of car upgrades to sift through on Friday afternoon at the Circuit of the Americas.
Red Bull was one of many teams to bring upgrades including a reshaped coke bottle section, while rival team McLaren re-assessed the front of its car and Mercedes implemented a significant update package to its W15.
Mercedes among drivers to spin early
That was a big ol' spin for Lewis 😵💫
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 18, 2024
Looks like those tyres are cooked. He's back in the pits to check for any floor damage 🧐#F1 #USGP pic.twitter.com/BzBHqaftFW
On the newly resurfaced and smoothed-out track, teams began with hard tyred runs.
Pierre Gasly spun in his orange (Indiana Jones-themed) Alpine with 10 minutes on the board.
Lewis Hamilton was next, with a high speed spin over a bump through the opening esses, while Mercedes team-mate George Russell also had a minor moment at Turn 4 as well before a slide exiting Turn 1.
Ferrari on top
Halfway into the hour-long session, Ferrari held a one-two with Charles Leclerc setting the fastest time of 1m34.966s and Carlos Sainz 0.265s off. Russell was next on the board and another two-tenths off, while Verstappen was fourth (+0.572s) and his title rival Norris fifth (+0.799s).
Sainz was on average fastest using hard tyres having lapped in the low 1m36s range, while Verstappen and Leclerc were almost on par with the Spaniard.
McLaren was meanwhile a second off the Ferraris’ leading pace.
Red Bull kicks off qualifying simulations early
Verstappen and Perez changed to soft tyres after the 30-minute mark.
The Dutchman set the benchmark of 1m33.855s and Perez was 0.783s off his team-mate’s time - although there was plenty of track evolution to come.
With 10 minutes of the session remaining, much of the field followed suit with changes to soft tyres - although Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu had to miss out with a suspected power unit issue.
Sainz went to the top with a time of 1m33.602s, while Leclerc was just 0.021s back when he eventually managed a flying lap on softs.
Leclerc’s lap came after Piastri almost hit the pit entry late in the session as he took too much speed coming in, bringing out a virtual safety car and copping a black-and-white flag for rejoining the track.
McLaren didn’t beat Verstappen’s early soft-tyred time although Norris was just 0.013s off his rival and Piastri was another 0.040s behind.
Hamilton finished sixth, just 0.055s behind Piastri, while Russell was a tenth off his team-mate in seventh. Haas’s Kevin Magnussen and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso were just off Russell in eighth and ninth, respectively, while RB’s Yuki Tsunoda was 0.201s off Alonso in 10th.
Tsunoda’s new team-mate Liam Lawson - who has a grid penalty for Sunday’s race but not for the sprint - was just over a tenth behind in P13.
Perez struggled on soft tyres, ending up 16th overall, while Zhou duly rounded out the standings with his power unit issue.
