UNITED STATES GP – Carlos Sainz fastest in first practice two tenths ahead of Max Verstappen
Carlos Sainz was fastest in the first practice session for the United States Grand Prix. The Spaniard set a 36.857 on the soft tyres which put him ahead of Max Verstappen by two-tenths of a second with Lewis Hamilton third.
The Ferrari drivers fastest time came in the second half of the session on a second soft tyre run, while Verstappen closed the gap in the final ten minutes. The Dutchman was then unable to challenge his former teammate, while his rival for much of the season sat out the session giving his seat to Robert Shwartzman.
The two-time champion was left frustrated after being unable to threaten the Spaniard’s time. Verstappen said over team radio at the end of the session, “There must be something wrong with the car because I have no front end and low speed.” But the two-time champion looked to be continuing a stead pace through the session.
Hamilton looked settled on track despite the bumpy nature of the Circuit of the Americas as he continues to focus on getting Mercedes back to championship-fighting ways following a difficult season.
He was nearly a tenth and a half ahead of Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin. On Thursday Hamilton had spoken about his belief that the latest upgrades would have brought them closer to Red Bull and Ferrari, he was closer than he would have been at the start of the season, but still slightly too far out of reach to challenge for the win.
The session at the Circuit of The Americas had a fresh feel with five changes to the line-up as teams fulfilled their young driver session obligations, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc the most notable absence as Robert Schwartzman made his debut. Despite several rookies on track, it was the experienced Antoni Giovinazzi who crashed into the wall.
The Italian whose first outing in FP1 since Abu Dhabi last year, is seen as an audition for the second Haas seat. Giovinazzi lost the rear through the Maggots and Becketts style section, span backwards across the track before glancing at the wall.
He eventually lurched the car free and brought the VF-22 with its damaged front wing back to the garage. He initially appeared to be stuck there as red flags were waved, but eventually got moving and was able to get the car back to the Haas garage.
Sergio Perez was fourth, the Mexican six-tenths off the outright pace and two-tenths behind his Red Bull teammate Verstappen. Fernando Alonso continued to that Alpine continues to have the upper hand in the battle for fourth in the constructors, he was a tenth and a half faster than the McLaren of Lando Norris who was ninth.
George Russell put his Mercedes seventh nearly a tenth behind Alonso, with the two-time champion having a massive slide through the final corner which was named Andretti on Thursday.
The session underlined the progress the team has made as there didn’t appear to be any bouncing or porpoising on a circuit which has been known for its bumpy nature. Pierre Gasly put his Alpha Tauri eighth fastest going nearly a half a tenth ahead of Norris while Sebastian Vettel rounded the top ten.
Esteban Ocon was half a second behind Vettel and over a tenth and a half faster than Guanyu Zhou. Alex Albon put his Williams thirteenth despite struggling with understeer in the first sector, the British-Thai driver was just under half a second faster than the Alpha Tauri of Yuki Tsunoda.
Mick Schumacher put his Haas fifteenth going ahead of Robert Shwartzman who replaced Leclerc at Ferrari by three-hundredths of a second. Alex Palou was another rookie to take part going sixteenth, however was limited to long runs on medium tyres and never bolted on a set of softs.
It was confirmed during the session that Red Bull’s Perez and Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu will take five-place grid penalties in Sunday’s race after taking new engine parts, while Ferrari have admitted both of their drivers are likely to take new parts that will also drop them down the grid.
Off track, the row which began in Singapore about Red Bull breaching last year’s cost cap is set to continue. Red Bull committed a “minor” breach of the $145m (£114m) cap last year, governing body the FIA has said. The FIA has made an offer to Red Bull for the terms of what is known as an “accepted breach agreement” for them breaching the cost cap.
The offer, the details of which are confidential, specifies the penalty the FIA would hand out if Red Bull accepts they breached the cap. Scandals continue to engulf the FIA including the way last year’s championship was decided and while they sacked Michael Masi, who failed to apply the rules correctly, it calls into question the integrity of the sport once again.