United States Grand Prix – Free Practice 1: Carlos Sainz finishes on top, rookies lagging behind

It’s no surprise that this first session of the Grand Prix weekend in Austin took place under scorching sun. A stark contrast with the weather in Suzuka two weeks ago. With this weather, almost everyone was on soft tires. The session starts with Pierre Gasly complaining about a barbecue smell in the car, a bad omen after the fire incident he experienced in Singapore.

Double world champion Max Verstappen wasted no time leaving the garage to gather as much data as possible, while a grid is being placed on Lewis Hamilton’s car. Logan Sargeant, in the Williams, quickly complains about losing grip on his rear tires.

Antonio Giovinazzi’s crash

We note good start times from Sergio Perez and Lando Norris at the beginning of the session, with the Mexican taking first place. As the session was starting to pick up pace, Antonio Giovinazzi crashed into the Haas that he is driving exceptionally this weekend, causing a yellow flag first and then a red flag that interrupts the session.

After the resumption of the session, Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon set good times, with the latter completing a lap in 1:38.810. Then came Max Verstappen, with a time of 1:38.272.

On the Mercedes side, the middle of the session doesn’t show anything particularly brilliant, with Lewis Hamilton more than 3.8 seconds behind Verstappen.

The rookies at the bottom of the standings.

The highlight of this first free practice session is the presence of many rookies or former F1 drivers, in the case of Antonio Giovinazzi (Haas). With Logan Sargeant for Williams, Alex Palou for McLaren, Robert Shwartzman for Ferrari, and Theo Pourchaire for Alfa Romeo, unfortunately, it is evident that they are not at the same level yet, but it is natural as they are not used to driving a Formula 1 car of this caliber. When Theo Pourchaire finally takes to the track (at the 38th minute of the session), he records a time of 1:44.954… over 10 seconds slower than Max Verstappen.

It should be noted, however, that Palou finally increased his pace by placing himself in 9th position in the middle of the session. On the other hand, Robert Shwartzman (Ferrari) complained multiple times, first about a front lock-up, and then, towards the end of the session, about the Red Bulls blocking his track. He will finish 16th.

The surprise Sebastian Vettel

Carlos Sainz then set the example, but it’s Sebastian Vettel who creates the surprise by placing himself just behind the Red Bulls. The German improves his time even further to position himself just behind the Dutchman, ahead of Sergio Perez.

George Russell, for his part, is 1.17 seconds behind Max Verstappen. He raises the level for Mercedes by placing himself in 7th position.

The drivers had many scares, especially Esteban Ocon, who took a speed bump too quickly, and then Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, who both slid.

Another surprise of this session: Lance Stroll takes first place with a little less than 20 minutes left, just 0.002 seconds behind the double world champion. Before Carlos Sainz steals the spotlight from him.

At the end of the session, Lewis Hamilton finally shows the true potential of Mercedes and places himself in 2nd position. Alex Albon also achieves a good time, in 12th position with 12 minutes remaining.

It is noted that the McLarens are not at the top at the beginning of the weekend, in 15th and 16th position, before Lando Norris raises the level a bit, placing himself in 9th position, 0.999 seconds behind the leader Carlos Sainz. Finally, Max Verstappen improves his time to finish in second position behind the Spanish Ferrari driver. The session ends like this, with Carlos Sainz remaining in first position, ahead of Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton.

Note: Sergio Perez has been given a 5-place penalty for using his fifth engine of the season.