Marco Rossi · F1 Correspondent
Ferrari and Mercedes set the tempo at the Circuit of the Americas on Friday afternoon, while the midfield battles for Saturday's qualifying were already taking shape.
Charles Leclerc topped second practice for the United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin on Friday afternoon local time with a 1:35.291, beating his best time from the first session by more than seven tenths. Mercedes youngster Andrea Kimi Antonelli slotted in behind him, just 0.042 seconds back, and Max Verstappen completed the leading group in third.
Leclerc turns up the pace after the upgrade package
First practice had already hinted that Ferrari came to Austin with a certain degree of confidence. According to Crash.net, the Scuderia arrived for the weekend with an extensive aero update, with revisions to the floor, sidepods and diffuser, and the first results were promising. In second practice Leclerc underlined that impression: his 1:35.291 was the fastest time of the entire Friday, set during a qualifying simulation on soft tires.
Teammate Lewis Hamilton was fourth, but at 0.615 seconds off Leclerc he was already further adrift than the Monegasque's closest pursuer. Over one lap, Ferrari was the benchmark on Friday, but according to The Race, Red Bull and Mercedes were ahead on the long runs, which is arguably the more interesting news with Sunday in mind.
Antonelli battles to the front despite seat problem
That Andrea Kimi Antonelli ended up just 0.042 seconds behind Leclerc carries all the more weight given that the Mercedes driver had lost valuable time in the pits beforehand. His seat had come noticeably loose in the cockpit, forcing a stop in the garage before he could even get back on track. That he still posted the second-fastest time of the session speaks for the underlying pace of the Mercedes on Friday.
Max Verstappen slotted into third, 0.189 seconds back, staying closer to the front than George Russell, who finished fifth in the sister Mercedes, 0.744 seconds down and 0.702 seconds behind Antonelli. At Red Bull the picture was split: Isack Hadjar was only ninth in the second car, almost a second behind his teammate. The stewards also looked into an incident at Turn 18: Leclerc tried to pass Russell there, the Mercedes moved to the left and the Ferrari was forced off the track. Because both were on preparation laps and the stewards saw nothing dangerous, Russell got away with a black-and-white warning flag.
McLaren falls behind as frustration with the track grows
For McLaren, the second session was clearly weaker than the first. Lando Norris could manage no better than seventh, 1.082 seconds off the pace. His qualifying simulation ended off the track after a lockup at Turn 15, so his time for seventh came from the hard tires. Oscar Piastri followed in eighth, just 0.014 seconds behind his teammate. In first practice the team had still placed Norris and Piastri third and seventh, but in the afternoon the gap to the front was much bigger.
In the midfield, Liam Lawson delivered a strong result in sixth, 0.628 seconds ahead of teammate Arvid Lindblad. Oliver Bearman rounded out the top ten for Haas. Back on media day, Verstappen and Norris had already criticized the bumps at the Circuit of the Americas: Verstappen called them "unacceptable," while Norris said he takes headache tablets before some sessions because his head hits the headrest. Looking ahead to the rest of the weekend, Saturday's qualifying will show whether Ferrari's speed advantage holds up over a single lap or whether Mercedes and Red Bull can strike back when it matters.
