Leclerc leads both Austin practices but expects rivals to unlock more pace

Charles Leclerc set the fastest time in both Friday practice sessions at the Circuit of The Americas, but cautioned against treating the early order as settled before qualifying. He said Ferrari’s upgrades had worked as expected, while rival teams still had more performance to unlock.

Leclerc recorded 1:36.052 in FP1 and 1:35.291 in FP2. He singled out Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen as already looking strong, and said both would be among the front-runners in qualifying.

His team-mate Lewis Hamilton finished sixth and fourth in the two sessions. After trying a different set-up direction, he said he was uncomfortable in the car, particularly over the bumps; he and the team would work through the issue that night.