What the teams said – Friday in the United States

Ferrari

Charles Leclerc topped the opening practice session for Ferrari, starting strongly at a track where he has previously won. Lewis Hamilton was close to his team mate on the mediums, but ran wide on his first flying lap on the softs to finish a few places further back. It was much of the same for the team in FP2, Leclerc setting the pace and Hamilton a little further back. One thing that did cause some raised eyebrows was Leclerc nearly tangling with Russell as both squabbled over the same piece of tarmac, the stewards later opting to take no further action.

Charles Leclerc - FP1: 1:36.052, P1; FP2: 1:35.291, P1

"The feeling in the car was quite good. Our upgrades worked as expected, but we must not get carried away by too high expectations ahead of tomorrow, as I believe our competitors have more potential to unlock. Kimi (Antonelli) and Max (Verstappen) already look very strong, and they’ll definitely be up there in qualifying. We’ll keep our heads down and see what tomorrow has in store."

Lewis Hamilton - FP1: 1:36.555, P6; FP2: 1:35.906, P4

"It wasn’t the easiest day. We tried a different direction with the set-up, but I wasn’t comfortable in the car, especially over the bumps. Charles showed there’s pace there, so we need to understand how we can get the car into a better place on my side. Practice is always a good opportunity to try new things and build our understanding and we’ll work through it with the team tonight and see where we can improve for tomorrow."

Mercedes

George Russell complained in FP1 about his brakes, while Kimi Antonelli found himself in a spot of bother after getting in the way of Hadjar. Both ran wide on occasion too, as they like most of the field, struggled for grip. The Italian found things more to his liking in FP2, although he did need a trip back to the garage to adjust his seat, which was moving in the cockpit of his Mercedes. He wound up less than half a tenth off the pace of Leclerc, while Russell was a little further back after having a hairy moment on one of his laps, catching a big snap that could have been nasty.

Kimi Antonelli - FP1: 1:36.533, P5; FP2: 1:35.333, P2

"We have had an interesting day here at the Circuit of the Americas. We didn’t have the best FP1 session, with the car balance not in a great place. We were able to improve that for FP2 though and we took a good step forward. We will now pick through the data overnight and see if we can take another step. We will likely need that if we are to be confident of fighting for victory on Sunday.

"Ultimately, it’s been an encouraging day for us given the progress we’ve taken with the update package. We made some good inroads in Singapore, and it is pleasing to see that continue here with both myself and George on the same specification. There is still more for us to do to ensure we’re getting the car in the right window consistently and that will be a focus for us heading into FP3."

George Russell - FP1: 1:36.378, P4; FP2: 1:35.793, P5

"It's been a useful day for us on track as we continue to build our knowledge around our update package. Whilst the car wasn't in a great place in FP1, we made some good improvements for FP2 and definitely moved the car in the right direction. There is still more work to do though, particularly given how strong some of the other teams looked today. I didn’t get the most out of the single-lap running either; I lost one lap to track limits and then had a big moment in sector one on the next, so there was more performance there. We’ll work hard overnight and see what we can find ahead of tomorrow.

"As we expected coming into the weekend, the margins between the top four teams look small. Getting ourselves in the fight at the front will not only be about making improvements with the car overnight but also executing well in qualifying and the race."

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

"We didn’t have a good first session. We were looking to explore a wider set-up window with the update package on both cars, but we were struggling with locking, which was a big limitation in both our single-lap work and the long runs. We repositioned the cars going into the afternoon session and that seems to have put us in a better place. We had fewer balance issues, the car was more predictable, and the lap times improved as a result.

"It looks very tight at the front. You wouldn’t rule out any of the top four teams having the pace for pole position tomorrow, so we’ll continue to pick through what we learned today and see if we can find further improvements overnight."

Red Bull

Max Verstappen started well in Austin, briefly topping FP1 but losing his fastest time to track limits. Fortunately, his previous lap was good enough for P2 as he pushed Leclerc close. Isack Hadjar also lost a soft-shod lap time to track limits, which sent him tumbling down the order. The Dutchman started the second session well in his Red Bull machine, looking strong once again and is definitely in the mix for pole. Hadjar once again struggled a little by comparison, calling his laps “disgusting” on the radio at one point. The Frenchman will be studying the data tonight to see if he can find any answers ahead of the final practice session.

Max Verstappen - FP1: 1:35.860, P2; FP2: 1:35.480, P3

“It’s been a positive start to the weekend. This track is never easy when it comes to finding the right compromise between the low and high-speed corners. The bumps make it even more difficult, so you’re trying to find a good balance in the car and get into a rhythm. That’s what we’ve been working on between FP1 and FP2. There’s still a bit more work to do to fine-tune that balance, but it wasn’t a bad day at all.” 

Isack Hadjar - FP1: 1:36.490, P14; FP2: 1:36.411, P9

“We started today well in FP1. The track was as bumpy as expected, but we took some learnings from that. For the second session we then made some changes. They didn’t go as we’d hoped, as we struggled on the Soft tyre compared to the Medium. The first sector was good, but after that, we had issues with tyre temperature for the rest of the lap. There are things to improve and work on overnight, particularly with the car balance, which should help. We have Fridays for a reason, so let’s push on tomorrow.” 

Pierre Wache, Technical Director

“The set-up we are running is less stiff than last year, but the car is still not compliant enough over the bumps, which made today quite challenging as finding the right balance was more difficult than expected. The main challenge this weekend is managing tyre degradation over the long runs while making sure the compromises we make for race pace don’t cost us too much in Qualifying.  We had a steering issue on Max’s car in FP1, which we managed to resolve, and we saw some improvements with the set-up in FP2. There is still work to do on both cars, particularly Isack’s, but we are not far away in terms of set-up. With the high-speed corners in Sector 1, pushing the tyres too hard early on can compromise the rest of the lap. We are focused on improving our low-speed performance and, while the race is our priority, we also want to put ourselves in the strongest possible position for Qualifying.” 

McLaren

Lando Norris was the pick of the two McLaren drivers in the opening session, with Oscar Piastri struggling with understeer on his fast lap. Come FP2, it was Norris who struggled more with the car, unable to find the best working window. He had a moment on his flying lap, and was not particularly complimentary about the car after the session. Piastri looked a little more steady in FP2, but he was not that quick, so the Australian will be hunting lap time tomorrow.

Lando Norris - FP1: 1:36.297, P3; FP2: 1:36.373, P7

“We saw encouraging signs of pace today, but it’s been tough to repeat that lap after lap. We’re focusing on small, targeted tweaks overnight rather than anything drastic to get on top of the car’s handling. We’ll use everything we’ve learned through both sessions today to put the car in the best position we can and make it a little nicer to drive before Qualifying.

“Compared to the teams ahead we’re a step behind. It’s not a drivability issue as such, it’s focusing on extracting speed consistently because the pace is definitely there. We’re optimistic that incremental changes will bring us closer in the competitive order.”

Oscar Piastri - FP1: 1:36.786, P7; FP2: 1:36.029, P8

“An interesting first day for us. It’s clear that we have a bit of time to find on track. We tried a few different things during the sessions that we now need to fully analyse to see how we can better maximise performance from the car. The main thing we’re struggling with is grip, so we have work to do on that side of things. We’ll see what we can do overnight to get us in a better spot ahead of Qualifying tomorrow.”

Rob Marshall, Chief Technical Officer & Chief Designer

“We’re relatively satisfied with how the day went. The balance of power amongst the top four teams is quite close – closer than the FP2 standings suggest, a session in which we clearly didn’t maximise our potential. The long runs were quite positive, and the series of minor updates we’ve brought to this track seem to be delivering the expected results in terms of performance.

“This is a circuit with a number of medium and high-speed corners that suit our car’s characteristics, but there are also plenty of low-speed sections, an area we’re working on intensively.

“Ferrari seem to be very strong, as is Max Verstappen, who is really strong here, and Mercedes are also competitive: for our part, we’ll try to make the most of the data collected today to challenge these teams."

Racing Bulls

Arvid Lindblad has taken a new ICE and thus will have a grid penalty on Sunday. He wound up in the top 10 in the first session, a couple of tenths ahead of his team mate. The rookie dropped down the order in the second session, but Liam Lawson went the other way, topping the midfield with an impressive lap. That bodes well for the Racing Bulls team, but they did have one interesting moment, watching the Kiwi racer go wheel-to-wheel with Verstappen out of the pits as those two got a taste of racing a little earlier than planned at COTA.

Arvid Lindblad - FP1: 1:37.063, P9; FP2: 1:36.734, P13

"It's a really cool track here in Austin, and I've definitely enjoyed driving it thanks to its great flow. Overall, it's been a day of ups and downs. We made a good start in FP2, although I struggled a little to find the rhythm on the Soft tyre. Our pace on the short runs has been good, but we still have some work to do on the long runs. We've identified a direction to follow, which will hopefully help us find more performance. A big thank you to everyone in the team for the incredible work they're putting in and for bringing the new upgrades this weekend. I'm looking forward to building on today's work and making further progress over the rest of the weekend."

Liam Lawson - FP1: 1:37.309, P10; FP2: 1:36.331, P6

"I enjoyed being on track today. We've brought some upgrades this weekend, so the car is feeling quick, and I believe there's still more to unlock with some fine tuning. There's definitively more degradation than we expected, but it normally comes down throughout the weekend, so we'll assess what it's like tomorrow. I love driving here, so am looking forward to Quali where we'll be pushing for Q3."

Alan Permane, Team Principal

"It’s been a good day. We have a new aero package on the car, comprising a new floor, bodywork and front and rear wings on both cars, which is working as expected. We can make some improvements to the balance of both cars overnight, but the numbers look encouraging overall. Our pace for both short and long runs look decent, so it will be small tweaks for FP3 tomorrow. The track presents a few challenges, with the hot temperatures leading to more tyre degradation than we’d like, while track limits can also be tricky here. It’s easy to get it wrong, so I’m sure that’ll be a topic both in Qualifying and during Sunday’s race. Arvid does have a five-place engine penalty this weekend due to a new internal combustion engine. However, we’re not changing his run plan; the objective, as always, is to qualify as high as possible. We’ve got a little bit of work to do overnight to ensure we’re in a strong position tomorrow."

Audi

Gabriel Bortoleto was fast in FP1, winding up the pick of the midfield. His Audi team mate could not match him, Nico Hulkenberg struggling with a power unit issue and forced to park up a little early at the end of the first session. The German was also down the order in the second session, while Bortoleto spent much of the afternoon flirting with the top 10. Unfortunately for him, he has a back of the grid start incoming after taking on a raft of new PU components.

Nico Hulkenberg - FP1: 1:38.122, P18; FP2: 1:37.040, P18

“Today was a pretty straightforward Friday without any issues. We tried a few things across FP1 and FP2 and learnt a bit along the way. Now it’s about going through everything and putting a good plan together for qualifying tomorrow. The midfield looks tight, as ever, so hopefully we can get ourselves in the mix for a good starting position."

Gabriel Bortoleto - FP1: 1:36.995, P8; FP2: 1:36.832, P11

“Overall, it was a regular day in the office. We had two clean sessions, with decent pace, and we got quite a good amount of data on how our car is performing here. Of course, knowing we'll have a grid penalty puts us in a slightly different position going into the rest of the weekend, as we already know we will be starting from the back, which is obviously a shame especially when the car feels good. But that is part of the game, and I am still confident we can do a decent job and get the most out of qualifying tomorrow.”

Alpine

Franco Colapinto had a stop-start beginning to his weekend, confined to the garage in the opening stages of FP1. He finished a couple of places behind his team mate, with Alpine keeping their powder dry in the first session. The Argentine has a 10-place grid drop incoming for taking on a new PU component too, which will hamper his weekend. As for Pierre Gasly, he improved a few places from one session to the next, but needs to find a few more tenths if he wants to fight for Q3 tomorrow.

Pierre Gasly - FP1: 1:37.801, P15; FP2: 1:36.840, P12

“From a results point of view, it does not look to be the best day for us but we know some areas we can improve and I am sure we will still be in the mix for the top ten when it matters. The track is very bumpy, usual for here as it's the nature of the track, and it has been quite difficult to get a good read on car balance. A lot of our set-up work has been trying to get the car riding better over the bumps. We are probably not as strong here as we would like to be, so we have quite a bit to learn and understand overnight. Our pace on high fuel in Free Practice 2 was better, which is obviously very important with an eye on Sunday. That being said, we still need to qualify as high up as possible, and I am sure much of our work in Free Practice 3 will be on improving our single lap pace. Finally, it was the first time for me doing an interview live from the car with Sky Sports F1 in Free Practice 1, that was quite cool and hopefully gives those watching on TV a slightly different insight into racing than usual!”

Franco Colapinto - FP1: 1:38.121, P17; FP2: 1:37.201, P15

“We had a busy day out on track today with a lot of focus and preparation for Sunday and long runs. It was similar in a way to the approach we took in Malaysia, where we also knew we would be taking a grid penalty. Therefore, we did not do much performance running or Qualifying simulations and took the sensible decision to put ourselves in the strongest possible position for the Grand Prix. We will work with the engineers tonight and debrief on what we learnt on my side, as well as Pierre's, and see where we can take a step forward as I think there's still some margin to improve. Also, like Sepang, but to a lesser extent, this track can be tough on tyres and degradation will play a part in the race. We have seen in past races that following in dirty air can also emphasise that more, which is again why we shifted focus more towards race set-up. It's a fun track to drive and we will give it our all tomorrow to start as high up as possible.”

Steve Nielsen, Managing Director

“It has been a tricky Friday for us and we have quite a bit to improve going into the rest of the weekend. We had both cars running slightly different programmes as a result of Franco having to take a grid penalty due to taking a new control electronics unit. Franco's day mainly focused on completing plenty of laps and lots of high fuel running to give him a good read for the car in race trim. We know overtaking opportunities are more abundant here so all is not lost for Franco if he can have a strong start on Sunday and put himself back into the mix to score points. Pierre had a more conventional Practice programme, trying different set-ups and trying to get the car into a better place, especially over some of the bumps which are a big characteristic at this circuit. He's not as comfortable on low fuel as we'd like, so that gives us an area to focus on and improve. On high fuel we look stronger, which bodes well for Sunday, but is opposite to a trend of ours from recent races where we tend to be strong on low fuel. That is something we need to work on and understand ahead of tomorrow as we aim to continue our streak of Q3 appearances.”

Haas

Ollie Bearman was the pick of the two Haas drivers in the first session, with the team running a special Godzilla livery at their home race. The same held true in FP2, with Bearman just sneaking into the top 10 by a couple of tenths, with team mate Esteban Ocon claiming 14th. That bodes well for Haas, who have not made it to Q3 since China. Whether Bearman can hold the position when everyone turns things up remains to be seen, but it shows that the upgrade direction Haas have gone in does seem to be paying dividends.

Oliver Bearman - FP1: 1:37.665, P11; FP2: 1:36.536, P10

“It’s been a positive first day in Austin. I had a good feeling in the car, and to be honest, it’s been a continuation from Singapore in terms of that good feeling, so that’s nice. There are a few things we’ll look at tonight to be able to get some more performance out of the car, but we’ll see what we can do for qualifying – I’m optimistic!”

Esteban Ocon – FP1: 1:37.896, P16; FP2: 1:37.201, P14

“Conditions are good out there, but the track is quite bumpy all the way around. We’ve struggled since the start of the day, front-locking everywhere, and the car’s very difficult when trying to attack the corners. We’ve changed a few parts compared to Singapore, so we need to understand where that’s coming from. We’ll keep looking tonight and hopefully come back better tomorrow.”

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal

“I think it was a reasonably successful Friday. On Ollie’s side, he was happy with the car straightaway and had lots of confidence, so that’s probably the cleanest Friday of the season from his side of the garage so far. On Esteban’s side, it’s not a huge problem, but he’s struggling under braking – so we need to get to the bottom of that issue. If we can, I’m sure we can get Esteban up there with Ollie. The competition is really tight, so it’s about fine-tuning, and we really need to squeeze everything out of it tonight to be in the best position for FP3 and qualifying tomorrow.”

Aston Martin

Aston Martin had a strong opening session in Texas, Fernando Alonso winding up just outside the top 10 and Lance Stroll only one place and one tenth back. Alonso was the pick of the duo again in FP2, although he was not impressed with traffic in the form of Russell at one point. Stroll once again wound up one place adrift of the Spaniard, although the time gap came down to just 0.034s in the second session as the Canadian began to stretch his legs around this rollercoaster of a circuit.

Fernando Alonso - FP1: 1:37.688, P12; FP2: 1:37.235, P16
Lance Stroll - FP1: 1:37.783, P13; FP2: 1:37.269, P17

Stroll said:

"We worked through our testing programme and focused on improving the car throughout the day.

"I think we're looking a little better here than we did in Singapore, although we're still down on power on the straights. We seem to be a bit stronger through the corners, so there are some positives.

"Getting out of Q1 is going to be tough, but you never know what can happen.

"We'll go through the data tonight, look at where we can make adjustments and see if we can improve the car ahead of Qualifying."

Team Ambassador Pedro de la Rosa said:

"We have both cars close to one another in lap times today, and we completed everything in our programme across both FP1 and FP2.

"All in all, it was a good Friday for us, but there is still some work to be done to improve the balance on the car.

"Track limits will be a key factor tomorrow in Qualifying, as we've seen lots of laps deleted today. It's the same for everyone and we'll see what we can do tomorrow."

Cadillac

Colton Herta ran in place of Sergio Perez in the opening session in front of his home fans, but his session had a tricky start. He kept it clean though, handing over an intact Cadillac to the Mexican for FP2. Perez was a little late to come out as the team finalised setting up his car, and understandably took some time to get going. He wound up a couple of places behind his team mate, Valtteri Bottas with the Finn putting in two solid sessions at a track where he has tasted victory.

Valtteri Bottas - FP1: 1:39.053, P20; FP1: FP2: 1:38.422, P19

“A productive Friday for us here in COTA with no issues. We were able to conduct some interesting tests with a couple of different front wings and various set-ups too. It's been a really smooth day that has allowed us to learn the best we can and try to find the optimal window.. It still looks like there is a bit of a gap to the others, so we’re going to do our best overnight to try and find something to help us improve.”

Sergio Perez - FP2: 1:39.036, P21

“It was a busy session, especially given that I missed FP1. We had a lot to get through, including experimenting with a few different parts and set-ups on the car, so we learned a lot. One of the changes we made probably put us on the back foot for the rest of FP2, but we understand why and know what we need to do overnight to be in better shape tomorrow. The team has done a fantastic job, and Colton also provided some really useful feedback.”

Colton Herta – FP1: 1:39.979, P21

“That was fun. My first Formula 1 outing in my home country in front of all the American fans was a very special moment. We’ve got a lot of people here from Cadillac and GM, so it was amazing to be able to share that with them too. It’s been great to be back at COTA - it’s been seven years since I was last here when I won in INDYCAR, so it’s surreal to be back on track here, this time driving a Formula 1 car.”

Marcin Budkowski, Team Principal

“Colton did a very solid job in FP1, completing our program and providing valuable data for the rest of the weekend. This was his third FP1 appearance and that growing familiarity with the car is helping him get up to speed more quickly and give increasingly useful feedback to the engineers.

“With Checo and Valtteri we ran our test items including the floor elements and that will prove useful for the future. We’ve had a positive day and we will work overnight to get ready for Quali tomorrow. At this track we need to focus on getting the best set up and optimising the tyre window.”

Williams

Williams ran a test programme in FP1, and thus their times were not representative. They were also the only team not to run the soft tyres. Alex Albon’s flying lap was deleted as he fought his car around the Circuit of The Americas, and thus he wound up propping up the field. The second session did not improve for the team, Albon and Carlos Sainz seemed to lack confidence with the car. They both ran wide, with Albon once again unable to set a representative lap time.

Alex Albon - FP1: 2:16.468, P22; FP2: 1:43.426, P22

“That’s Friday finished with and it was a tricky day overall. We utilised FP1 to do an aero testing programme to gather data for both this season and to help the development of the 2027 car. Currently there’s a lot of work to do, and a lot to debrief overnight, but let’s see what the rest of the weekend brings.”

Carlos Sainz - FP1: 1:38.846, P19; FP2: 1:37.701, P20

“We knew it was going to be a tough circuit for us; the medium to high speed longer corners just don’t suit our car, so we chose to use FP1 to try different setups and gather some data which will help us to prepare for next year. For FP2 we went back to a normal run plan and unfortunately the performance struggles proved to match the expectation. Having said that, the weekend is only getting started and we will continue to dig into the data and try to improve as much as possible for both qualifying and the race."

Paul Williams, Chief Engineer - Trackside Performance

“We spent most of today learning and looking to the future, working as a team to collect some data both for the remainder of the season but also very much looking forward to next year’s car and our development programme on that. We know the limitations of this car and struggle on the medium- and high-speed corners so are exposed here in sector one, but this is one of the easiest circuits to overtake on so the focus for us this evening will be making sure we have got the car underneath us for long runs and can keep rear tyre degradation under control on Sunday."

Pirelli

Dario Marrafuschi, Pirelli Motorsport Director

“The indications from the first two sessions confirm very consistent behaviour from the three compounds selected for this Grand Prix. So far, the C2 appears likely to play only a limited role in defining race strategies, while teams are focusing primarily on the Medium and Soft compounds. Given the level of degradation observed and the rapid evolution of track grip, a one-stop race currently appears to be the most likely scenario.

"Track evolution is progressing as expected. The surface was particularly dirty at the start of running, but it rubbered in quickly, allowing grip levels to reach a very good standard. The performance gaps between the compounds are also in line with expectations, at around nine tenths of a second between the Medium and Hard, and five tenths between the Medium and Soft. Particular attention will also be paid to the aerodynamic balance of the cars, an aspect made even more significant by the bumps and irregularities of the track surface. An imbalance can increase the tendency for front-wheel locking under the heaviest braking zones, making it crucial to find the best possible compromise in terms of car set-up.”