2026 United States FP2: Leclerc & Ferrari the team to catch

Charles Leclerc continued Ferrari’s impressive start to the United States Grand Prix weekend by topping the timesheets in second practice at the Circuit of The Americas, narrowly beating Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in another closely fought session.

The Monegasque backed up his pace-setting performance in FP1 with another strong showing under the Texas sunshine, finishing just 0.042 seconds ahead of Antonelli as Ferrari completed a clean sweep of Friday’s practice sessions. Verstappen secured third for Red Bull, while Lewis Hamilton added to the Scuderia’s encouraging start by placing fourth ahead of Mercedes driver George Russell.

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With the 2026 F1 World Championship entering a crucial stage and Antonelli carrying the possibility of securing his maiden title in Austin, the competitive order at the front remains finely balanced. Ferrari’s outright pace was particularly encouraging, although Mercedes and Red Bull remained firmly in contention as teams continued to refine their setups ahead of qualifying and Sunday’s Grand Prix.

2026 United States Grand Prix FP2 Results

2026 United States Grand Prix FP2, 23 October 2026

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:35.291	30
2	12	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	+0.042s	25
3	3	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	+0.189s	24
4	44	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	+0.615s	26
5	63	George Russell	Mercedes	+0.744s	27
6	30	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	+1.040s	27
7	1	Lando Norris	McLaren	+1.082s	27
8	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	+1.096s	27
9	6	Isack Hadjar	Red Bull Racing	+1.120s	24
10	87	Oliver Bearman	Haas F1 Team	+1.245s	28
11	5	Gabriel Bortoleto	Audi	+1.541s	27
12	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	+1.549s	27
13	41	Arvid Lindblad	Racing Bulls	+1.668s	29
14	31	Esteban Ocon	Haas F1 Team	+1.820s	26
15	43	Franco Colapinto	Alpine	+1.910s	32
16	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	+1.944s	26
17	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	+1.978s	28
18	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Audi	+2.139s	26
19	77	Valtteri Bottas	Cadillac	+3.131s	24
20	55	Carlos Sainz	Williams	+3.155s	28
21	11	Sergio Perez	Cadillac	+3.745s	24
22	23	Alexander Albon	Williams	+8.135s	27

Verstappen sets early benchmark as drivers struggle with track limits

Following a tightly contested opening session that saw Leclerc edge Verstappen by just 0.084s, the drivers returned to the 5.513-kilometre Circuit of The Americas for another important hour of running.

FP2 got underway at 16:00 local time, with Alpine’s Pierre Gasly leading the queue out of the pit lane as teams wasted little time beginning their planned programmes. Sergio Perez was also back behind the wheel of his Cadillac after American driver Colton Herta had taken over driving duties during FP1.

Verstappen quickly carried his earlier momentum into the afternoon session, establishing an initial benchmark of 1m 36.581s on Pirelli’s medium compound tyres as Red Bull looked to build on its competitive opening performance.

However, it was not an entirely smooth start for both Red Bull drivers. Team-mate Isack Hadjar reported difficulties securing his helmet visor, telling his engineers that he could not close it properly, leaving him distracted during his opening laps.

Hamilton, meanwhile, began his programme on the hard compound and initially posted a lap almost seven tenths slower than Verstappen. His effort was subsequently deleted for exceeding track limits, continuing a recurring theme from the first session as drivers struggled to remain within the circuit’s white lines.

Hadjar and Antonelli also lost early lap times to track limits infringements, with the Mercedes driver additionally reporting discomfort with his seat before returning to the garage for adjustments.

Russell challenges Verstappen as stewards investigate Leclerc incident

With the opening runs completed, the battle at the top began to intensify as several drivers found improvements around the demanding Austin layout.

Russell was among those to make significant progress, briefly taking control of the timesheets with a lap that put him three tenths clear of McLaren’s Lando Norris.

Verstappen soon responded to reclaim the fastest time, demonstrating that Red Bull remained a serious threat despite Ferrari’s impressive showing earlier in the day.

Norris attempted to challenge the Dutchman’s benchmark but suffered a sudden snap of oversteer during his flying lap, forcing him to abandon the effort and return to the pits. The McLaren driver remained third at that stage, with the handling characteristics of his car proving increasingly difficult as the session developed.

Antonelli subsequently climbed into third behind Russell as the circuit became quieter, but the Mercedes garage was also dealing with a separate incident involving its British driver.

Russell had been shown the black-and-white warning flag following an on-track encounter in which he was judged to have forced Leclerc off the circuit. The incident was placed under investigation, although the stewards eventually decided that no further action was necessary.

The episode added another talking point to an already eventful practice session, with traffic management and track positioning proving important as drivers attempted to complete representative laps.

Leclerc takes control as qualifying simulations bring further drama

As FP2 moved into its second half, attention shifted towards qualifying preparations, with most of the field switching to Pirelli’s red-walled soft compound tyres in search of outright lap time.

Leclerc once again delivered when it mattered, producing the quickest lap of the session to move Ferrari back to the top of the order.

Antonelli also found a significant improvement as Mercedes worked through its performance programme, moving within just 0.042s of the Ferrari driver to underline the closely matched pace between the leading teams.

However, the soft-tyre runs were far from straightforward for everyone, with track limits continuing to catch drivers out around the Circuit of The Americas.

Russell and Hadjar were among those to have further lap times deleted for exceeding the track boundaries, preventing them from fully capitalising on their qualifying simulations.

Hadjar’s frustration became increasingly evident as the session progressed, with the Frenchman describing the handling of his Red Bull RB22 as “disgusting” while struggling with tyre degradation.

McLaren also endured a difficult afternoon. Norris locked up and ran off the circuit during one of his attempts, while Russell experienced a particularly uncomfortable moment on another flying lap.

Both McLaren drivers struggled to find confidence in the handling of their cars, leaving Norris and Oscar Piastri unable to challenge the leading runners during the decisive low-fuel runs.

The variety of mistakes and interrupted laps highlighted the difficulty of extracting maximum performance from the cars around COTA, particularly with changing grip levels, tyre behaviour and the circuit’s demanding combination of high-speed and technical corners.

Ferrari finishes Friday on top as midfield battle takes shape

With approximately 20 minutes remaining, teams turned their attention away from qualifying simulations and towards longer, higher-fuel runs as they gathered information for Sunday’s race.

That effectively brought an end to the battle for the fastest lap, leaving Leclerc in control of the timesheets ahead of Antonelli and Verstappen.

The order remained unchanged when the chequered flag fell, confirming Leclerc as the fastest driver in both Friday sessions and giving Ferrari an encouraging foundation heading into the remainder of the weekend.

Antonelli secured second place, just 0.042s behind the Ferrari, with Verstappen completing the top three. Hamilton finished fourth in the second Ferrari, while Russell rounded out the top five for Mercedes.

Liam Lawson delivered an eye-catching performance for Racing Bulls to finish sixth, ahead of the McLaren pairing of Norris and Piastri in seventh and eighth respectively. Neither McLaren driver was particularly satisfied with the handling of their car, leaving the team with work to do overnight.

Hadjar eventually finished ninth in the second Red Bull, while Haas driver Oliver Bearman completed the top 10 after another solid showing.

Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto continued his promising Friday with 11th place, having already impressed with eighth during the opening practice session. Gasly followed in 12th for Alpine, ahead of Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad in 13th.

Esteban Ocon took 14th for Haas, with Alpine’s Franco Colapinto 15th ahead of the Aston Martin duo of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll in 16th and 17th.

Nico Hulkenberg finished 18th in the second Audi, followed by Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas in 19th and Williams driver Carlos Sainz in 20th.

Perez completed his return to the Cadillac cockpit in 21st, while Alex Albon ended the session 22nd for Williams, leaving the British team towards the rear of the classification after a challenging opening day.

Although Ferrari heads into Saturday with the momentum of topping both Friday practice sessions, the narrow margin separating Leclerc and Antonelli suggests the fight for pole position remains wide open.

Verstappen’s continued presence near the front also keeps Red Bull firmly in the conversation, while Mercedes appears capable of challenging if it can put together a clean qualifying session. McLaren, meanwhile, faces an important period of analysis as it looks to resolve its handling concerns and recover performance.

With the leading teams separated by fine margins and track limits already proving costly, the United States Grand Prix weekend is shaping up for a fascinating qualifying battle as the drivers prepare for the next stage of the action in Austin.