Leclerc tops first free practice session in Austin, Verstappen and Norris follow
In the grid's first outing at the United States Grand Prix, Leclerc dominated the first free practice session, leading the timings for a majority of the hour. He was followed by Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, completing the top three of the practice.
Sérgio Perez sat out of this first practice, allowing Cadillac reserve and Formula 2 driver, Colton Herta, to take part in the session at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA).
Some drivers lined up in the pitlane ahead of the green light, with Franco Colapinto first in the queue. All drivers got out onto the track early into the session in an attempt to get as much practice at the circuit as possible ahead of qualifying tomorrow.
Leclerc set his first lap time with 1:39:152, topping the sheet ahead of George Russell and Verstappen. However, Norris set early pace and managed to take Leclerc's spot at the top, with his time being 1:38:715.
Verstappen shortly went ahead with 1:38:800 after reporting some "weird" steering issues over the radio. Liam Lawson wasn't too far behind the former Drivers' World Champion, showing some impressive pace in the Racing Bulls.
As the tyres adjusted to the track conditions, the lap times continued to speed up, with Hamilton, Leclerc and Norris moving ahead in quick succession. With both Ferrari's at the top, it showed their upgrades this weekend could hopefully be paying off.
The medium tyres appeared to be the best choice for the track conditions, with the top four opting this compound. Both Red Bulls, Antonelli and Lawson were all on the hard tyre behind, making the top eight with 45 minutes left to go.
It was confirmed during the session that Arvid Lindblad has took his sixth internal combustion engine (ICE) of the season. He will receive a five-place grid penalty as a result of the new power unit exceeding the amount allowed in the year.
Colapinto seemed to have some issues with his car, with the team seen making some changes to the rear of the car in the garage.
Antonelli and Russell moved up into fourth and fifth, with Antonelli preparing for what could hopefully be the race that clinches his maiden Formula One World Drivers' Championship.
Hadjar had moved up to fourth, but his track time was ultimately deleted for exceeding track limits. Meanwhile, his teammate went second as Leclerc remained at the top.
With 24 minutes to go, Norris moved back up into third. Verstappen then improved on his time just enough to move up to first on the board after going fastest in the first sector. However, Verstappen shortly lost his leading time due to a track limits breach. On the other hand, Hadjar managed to regain his place in fourth.
The Mercedes drivers had some decent sector times, however the soft tyres that both drivers were fielding were not allowing them to reach the top three.
With 10 minutes left to go, Neither Alex Albon or Carlos Sainz had any lap times set, despite taking several trips around the track. Albon was seen struggling, losing grip, going off track and exceeding track limits through his laps, but it wasn't clear whether there was something wrong with the FW48 or if the team were treating the hour as a pure testing session.
To round out the session, Leclerc remained at the top of the timings, followed by Verstappen and Norris. The Mercedes drivers held onto their fourth and fifth positions and will look to improve in the next practice session later this evening.
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