Leclerc tops Austin FP2, Antonelli 0.042s back in second
Charles Leclerc topped Friday's second practice session (FP2) at the United States Grand Prix with a 1m35.291s. Kimi Antonelli was 0.042s behind and Max Verstappen 0.189s back, so Leclerc has now been fastest in both practice sessions at the Circuit of the Americas. It is the first real clue before today's Saturday qualifying as to how far Ferrari's upgrades take them.
Top 10 results
Here is the FP2 top ten as reported by the official F1 site and Motorsport Week. The first ten were covered by about 1.2 seconds.
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:35.291 | – |
| 2 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 1:35.333 | +0.042 |
| 3 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:35.480 | +0.189 |
| 4 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 1:35.906 | +0.615 |
| 5 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:36.035 | +0.744 |
| 6 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | 1:36.331 | +1.040 |
| 7 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1:36.373 | +1.082 |
| 8 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 1:36.387 | +1.096 |
| 9 | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull | 1:36.411 | +1.120 |
| 10 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | 1:36.536 | +1.245 |
Behind them came Bortoleto, Gasly, Lindblad, Ocon, Colapinto, Alonso, Stroll, Hulkenberg, Bottas, Sainz, Perez and Albon. Their times were not given in the official report.
How the session played out
According to the official report, it was sunny in Texas, drivers did their longer runs on the medium and hard tyres, and used the soft for qualifying simulations. Some drivers, Leclerc included, reported tyre degradation. Antonelli went out on the soft late in the session and set a 1m35.333s to close to within 0.042s of Leclerc, while Verstappen, who had briefly led on the soft, was pushed down to third, Coffee Corner Motorsport and others reported.
Several laps were deleted for track limits: Hamilton's first hard-tyre lap, plus laps from Hadjar and Antonelli. Hadjar said he could not close his visor properly, which distracted him early on, and Antonelli complained about an issue with his seat. Norris snapped into oversteer and abandoned a lap, then later locked up and ran wide.
Russell and Leclerc, a near miss
Russell moved alongside Leclerc and forced the Ferrari driver off the track. The cars came close but did not touch, and Russell was shown the black and white flag. The stewards reviewed the incident and decided to take no further action.
Ferrari's upgrades and today's qualifying
GPblog linked the result to Ferrari's updates, saying they boosted Austin hopes. Ferrari was reported to have brought a new floor, sidepod and diffuser package this weekend (see our earlier upgrade story). Still, practice running does not reveal fuel loads or engine modes, so topping FP2 does not mean pole. The thing to watch in today's Saturday qualifying is how the gap of about 0.2 seconds between first and third changes.