Leclerc tops both Austin sessions as Verstappen hints at race pace

Charles Leclerc was fastest in both Friday sessions at the United States Grand Prix. Kimi Antonelli finished 0.042 seconds behind him in FP2, with Max Verstappen third, 0.189 seconds back. But BBC F1 correspondent Andrew Benson said Verstappen appeared fastest on the later race-simulation runs.

On the comparable soft-tyre long runs, Verstappen was marginally quicker than Leclerc on average, with more consistent pace. Benson said that consistency suggested Verstappen was in the best shape, at least on Friday.

That comparison applied only to Verstappen and Ferrari's drivers. Lando Norris recorded the fastest long-run average, about 0.2 seconds quicker than Verstappen, but used the hard tyre, so the figures were not directly comparable. McLaren brought an upgrade to Austin; Norris said its pace was not bad but still seemed a step behind Red Bull and Ferrari, probably Mercedes as well. He also said the car was difficult to drive consistently.

Leclerc said Ferrari's new floor was a small step forward, although the car had a good balance. He added that rivals seemed to gain more from Friday to Saturday and that, with the gaps so small, Saturday would not be easy.