Ferrari’s Leclerc sets the pace in opening US session
Charles Leclerc topped the timesheets for Ferrari in the first practice session for the United States Grand Prix. The Monegasque driver narrowly edged out Max Verstappen, with the Red Bull driver finishing just 84 thousandths of a second behind in second place.
The session began with drivers completing their initial runs on the medium and hard compound tyres. During this opening phase, Verstappen expressed some dissatisfaction with the behaviour of his car.
Verstappen’s faster lap deleted in tight session
As is customary, the final order was decided when the teams switched to the soft tyres for qualifying simulations. Verstappen briefly went fastest but fell foul of track limits, resulting in his lap time being deleted.
Lando Norris finished the session in third for McLaren, ahead of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli who completed an impressive top five.
Session highlights
- Charles Leclerc set the benchmark for Ferrari, topping the session by a narrow margin of just 0.084 seconds.
- Max Verstappen finished second but had a potentially session-topping lap time deleted for exceeding track limits.
- Lando Norris, George Russell, and Kimi Antonelli impressively rounded out the top five positions.
Full Results Free Practice 1 United States GP 2026
| POS | DRIVER | TEAM | TIME / GAP |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Charles Leclerc |
Scuderia Ferrari | 1:36.052 |
| 2 |  Max Verstappen |
Red Bull Racing | 1:36.136 |
| 3 |  Lando Norris |
McLaren F1 team | 1:36.297 |
| 4 | George Russell |
Mercedes AMG F1 | 1:36.378 |
| 5 |  Kimi Antonelli |
Mercedes AMG F1 | 1:36.533 |
| 6 | Lewis Hamilton |
Scuderia Ferrari | 1:36.555 |
| 7 |  Oscar Piastri |
McLaren F1 team | 1:36.786 |
| 8 |  Gabriel Bortoleto |
Audi F1 Team | 1:36.995 |
| 9 | Arvid Lindblad |
Racing Bulls | 1:37.063 |
| 10 |  Liam Lawson |
Racing Bulls | 1:37.309 |
| 11 | Oliver Bearman |
Haas F1 | 1:37.665 |
| 12 |  Fernando Alonso |
Aston Martin F1 Team | 1:37.688 |
| 13 |  Lance Stroll |
Aston Martin F1 Team | 1:37.783 |
| 14 |  Isack Hadjar |
Red Bull Racing | 1:37.790 |
| 15 | Pierre Gasly |
Alpine F1 | 1:37.801 |
| 16 | Esteban Ocon |
Haas F1 | 1:37.896 |
| 17 |  Franco Colapinto |
Alpine F1 | 1:38.121 |
| 18 |  Nico Hulkenberg |
Audi F1 Team | 1:38.122 |
| 19 | Carlos Sainz |
Williams Racing | 1:38.846 |
| 20 |  Valtteri Bottas |
Cadillac F1 Team | 1:39.053 |
| 21 | Colton Herta |
Cadillac F1 Team | 1:39.979 |
| 22 |  Alexander Albon |
Williams Racing | 2:16.468 |
