Practice report

F1 US GP: Lando Norris tops only practice, Charles Leclerc hit by mechanical trouble

Lando Norris leads Nico Hulkenberg and Oscar Piastri in practice at Formula 1's United States Grand Prix in Austin

McLaren's Lando Norris has topped the only practice session at Formula 1's United States Grand Prix, with Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg splitting Norris from Oscar Piastri.

With Austin's Circuit of the Americas hosting F1's latest sprint weekend, Friday's FP1 was the sole practice session for teams to dial in their cars for sprint qualifying later on Friday. That meant the 60-minute session was jam-packed with action, with all 20 cars out on track early on.

Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton led the early running, which was dominated by hard tyres, the Briton posting a 1m34.857s, 0.569s clear of Red Bull's Max Verstappen. Soon after Hamilton's lap the session was red flagged after 21 minutes for a piece of debris originating from Lance Stroll's Aston Martin.

The five-minute mid-session delay didn't tempt teams to move towards softer tyres just yet, instead continuing their interrupted long run plans. But action finally picked up in the final quarter, with Hamilton, Charles Leclerc and George Russell switching to medium tyres while the Red Bulls and McLarens donned softs.

Russell and Red Bull's Yuki Tsunoda and Verstappen briefly cycled through to the lead before Aston Martin's two-time F1 world champion Fernando Alonso snatched top spot with a 1m33.639s on softs, edging out Verstappen by 0.009s.

The Spaniard was demoted by McLaren's Norris, who found three tenths to set a 1m33.294s lap that would stay on top until the end of the session.

Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images

Championship leader Piastri found a late improvement to jump from fifth to second, just under three tenths behind his McLaren team-mate, but he was ultimately split by Sauber's surprising Hulkenberg.

The German veteran set his flyer in the dying seconds of the session, later than his direct competitors, showing the influence of the rapidly improving track surface on lap times.

Alonso was an equally impressive fourth, the latest occasion for Aston Martin to look impressively quick right out of the box.

Photos from United States GP - Practice

F1 US GP - FP1 results

1 - 2
Cla	Driver	#	Chassis	Engine	Laps	Time	Interval	Tyres	km/h
1	L. Norris McLaren	4	McLaren	Mercedes	23	1'33.294		S	212.733
2	N. Hulkenberg Sauber	27	Sauber	Ferrari	24	+0.255 1'33.549	0.255	S	212.154
3	O. Piastri McLaren	81	McLaren	Mercedes	26	+0.279 1'33.573	0.024	S	212.099
4	F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing	14	Aston Martin	Mercedes	23	+0.345 1'33.639	0.066	S	211.950
5	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	1	Red Bull	Red Bull	26	+0.354 1'33.648	0.009	S	211.929
6	A. Albon Williams	23	Williams	Mercedes	27	+0.626 1'33.920	0.272	S	211.316
7	G. Russell Mercedes	63	Mercedes	Mercedes	27	+0.637 1'33.931	0.011	M	211.291
8	L. Hamilton Ferrari	44	Ferrari	Ferrari	25	+0.671 1'33.965	0.034	M	211.214
9	I. Hadjar Racing Bulls	6	RB	Honda	25	+0.861 1'34.155	0.190	M	210.788
10	O. Bearman Haas F1 Team	87	Haas	Ferrari	27	+1.039 1'34.333	0.178	S	210.390
11	E. Ocon Haas F1 Team	31	Haas	Ferrari	26	+1.074 1'34.368	0.035	S	210.312
12	G. Bortoleto Sauber	5	Sauber	Ferrari	24	+1.184 1'34.478	0.110	S	210.067
13	Y. Tsunoda Red Bull Racing	22	Red Bull	Red Bull	24	+1.237 1'34.531	0.053	S	209.950
14	L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing	18	Aston Martin	Mercedes	23	+1.316 1'34.610	0.079	S	209.774
15	L. Lawson Racing Bulls	30	RB	Honda	25	+1.325 1'34.619	0.009	M	209.754
16	F. Colapinto Alpine	43	Alpine	Renault	25	+1.359 1'34.653	0.034	S	209.679
17	P. Gasly Alpine	10	Alpine	Renault	24	+1.371 1'34.665	0.012	S	209.652
18	A. Antonelli Mercedes	12	Mercedes	Mercedes	27	+1.443 1'34.737	0.072	M	209.493
19	C. Sainz Williams	55	Williams	Mercedes	9	+2.580 1'35.874	1.137	H	207.009
20	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16	Ferrari	Ferrari	18	+2.786 1'36.080	0.206	H	206.565
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