2025 United States GP FP1: Norris Leads the Way as Austin Action Begin

The 2025 United States Grand Prix weekend burst into life at the Circuit of The Americas with a single, high-stakes Friday practice session, and it was Lando Norris who delivered the early statement. The McLaren driver set the pace with a lap of 1:33.294, edging out a sensational Nico Hülkenberg by just 0.255s, while teammate Oscar Piastri completed a strong McLaren showing in third. With the Sprint format making its fourth appearance of the 2025 F1 World Championship, teams had just one hour to gather crucial data before Sprint Qualifying later in the day, leaving no room for error and no time to waste.

When the green light flicked on at 12:30 local time, a long line of cars immediately formed in the pit lane, led by reigning World Champion Max Verstappen. Most of the field opted for the C1 Hard compound to open the session, while Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll took an early gamble on the C3 Mediums. There was even a brief comic interlude when Isack Hadjar’s engineer mistakenly referred to “Bottas”, confusing the Racing Bulls rookie’s on-track company with former Kick Sauber driver and future Cadillac racer Valtteri Bottas. A few corners later, Hadjar was less amused, running wide and complaining about heavy traffic.

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Fifteen minutes in, Verstappen set the initial benchmark at 1:35.426, a mere 0.132s ahead of Singapore victor George Russell. But with 40 minutes remaining, the session was halted by a red flag after debris littered Turn 19, courtesy of Stroll running wide. Once the track was cleared, the action resumed, and Lewis Hamilton, a five-time Austin winner, quickly surged to the top with a 1:34.857 in his Ferrari. However, that lead wouldn’t last through the flurry of late laps that defined the session.

A Busy Hour in the Texas Heat

The session was not without its troubles. Carlos Sainz was recalled to the Williams garage with a suspected gearbox issue, losing valuable time while engineers stripped the car for inspection. Esteban Ocon, running the special edition Haas livery, brought out a puff of dust when he slid into the gravel, later reporting that the brake “stayed at 100 per cent the whole way.” Inside the cockpit of the Ferrari, Hamilton reported a “really slippery throttle pedal,” even as he briefly led the field by half a second with 20 minutes remaining.

As the final phase approached, the track grew quieter before erupting once more in a burst of Soft-tyre qualifying simulations. The evolving surface meant the times tumbled rapidly, with last year’s race winner Charles Leclerc noting an “oil smell” before retreating to the pits — a hint of possible trouble brewing in the Ferrari camp. Out on track, though, Fernando Alonso turned heads with a stunning 1:33.639s lap, putting the Aston Martin on provisional top spot, just 0.009s ahead of Verstappen.

That was until Norris delivered a searing final lap on the C4 Softs, reclaiming the top position in emphatic fashion. The Kick Sauber of Hülkenberg then vaulted to second with a mighty lap just 0.255s off the McLaren, while Piastri finished 0.279s behind his teammate in third — a strong start for the papaya team as they chase both championship points and momentum.

The Final Order

Behind the McLarens and Hülkenberg, Alonso secured fourth ahead of Verstappen, followed by Alex Albon in an impressive sixth for Williams. Russell, Hamilton, Hadjar, and Ollie Bearman in the second Haas completed the top 10. Ocon narrowly missed the cut in P11, ahead of Gabriel Bortoleto in the other Kick Sauber and Yuki Tsunoda’s Red Bull. Stroll, Liam Lawson, and the Alpine pair of Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly filled the mid-pack, while rookie Kimi Antonelli came home P18 in the Mercedes. Mechanical woes left both Ferraris at the bottom of the order, with Sainz and Leclerc in P19 and P20 after limited running.

2025 United States GP FP1 Results

2025 United States Grand Prix FP1, 17 October 2025