Austin (AFP) – Carlos Sainz topped the times ahead of team-mate Charles Leclerc as Ferrari set the pace ahead of title contenders Max Verstappen and Lando Norris in Friday’s opening practice at the United States Grand Prix. Sainz clocked a fastest lap in one minute and 33.602 seconds to beat Leclerc by 0.021 seconds, with three-time champion and series leader Verstappen of Red Bull adrift by two-tenths. Norris and his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri were fourth and fifth, ahead of seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton and his Mercedes team-mate George Russell, with Kevin Magnussen eighth on his return for Haas. Two-time champion Fernando Alonso was ninth for Aston Martin, ahead of Yuki Tsunoda of RB, with Sergio Perez in the second Red Bull languishing in 16th place. Verstappen, without a win since the Spanish Grand Prix in June, is hoping to end a run of eight winless races to stay well clear of Norris, who has closed to within 52 points in the title race with six rounds remaining.
After a four-week break, most teams arrived in Texas with a raft of upgrades for the championship run-in, with McLaren and Mercedes leading the way on a bright, warm, and dry morning. Norris led the cars out and was soon running off track as he mistimed his braking, while Leclerc was the early pace-setter in 1:36.724. Sainz soon joined his Ferrari team-mate at the top of the monitors before Russell and then Verstappen took over, the Dutchman clocking 1:35.538 for Red Bull. In gusty conditions, Hamilton and Russell both survived big spins at Turn Four, with the seven-time champion wrecking a set of tyres.
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Leclerc and Sainz then regained the top two spots before Red Bull switched from hards to mediums or softs, a change that saw Verstappen sweep ahead of the pack in 1:33.855, almost a second clear of Sainz, with Perez third. The Mexican soon climbed to second with 20 minutes remaining, making it two Red Bulls on top ahead of the two Ferraris, Russell, and Norris as the field settled before Zhou Guanyu lost power and returned to the pits in his Sauber. With 10 minutes remaining, all the leaders returned on softs, while Alex Albon, in his 100th Grand Prix, took to a run-off in his Williams at Turn 12 before Hamilton rose to second behind Verstappen, with Liam Lawson taking third for RB. Piastri then almost hit a pit-entry wall as he came in with too much speed, triggering a brief Virtual Safety Car (VSC) before the final laps flurry.
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