2026 United States GP FP1: Leclerc leads Verstappen and Norris

Charles Leclerc made an impressive start to the 2026 United States Grand Prix weekend, putting Ferrari at the top of the timesheets in Friday’s opening practice session at the Circuit of The Americas, narrowly ahead of Max Verstappen and Lando Norris.

The Monegasque delivered a fastest lap of 1m 36.052s around the challenging Austin circuit, edging Red Bull’s Verstappen by just 0.084 seconds, with McLaren’s Norris completing the top three, 0.245s off the pace. It was an encouraging opening for Ferrari, which arrived in Texas with a significant upgrade package as the battle for performance intensifies in the closing stages of the 2026 F1 World Championship.

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Mercedes also showed competitive pace, with George Russell taking fourth, 0.326s behind Leclerc, and team-mate Kimi Antonelli finishing fifth, 0.481s adrift. Antonelli entered the weekend with an opportunity to potentially secure his maiden world championship, while Lewis Hamilton completed the top six in the second Ferrari after a less straightforward session.

2026 United States Grand Prix FP1 Results

2026 United States Grand Prix FP1, 23 October 2026

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:36.052	26
2	3	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	+0.084s	25
3	1	Lando Norris	McLaren	+0.245s	22
4	63	George Russell	Mercedes	+0.326s	26
5	12	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	+0.481s	25
6	44	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	+0.503s	23
7	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	+0.734s	23
8	5	Gabriel Bortoleto	Audi	+0.943s	23
9	41	Arvid Lindblad	Racing Bulls	+1.011s	26
10	30	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	+1.257s	22
11	87	Oliver Bearman	Haas F1 Team	+1.613s	23
12	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	+1.636s	22
13	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	+1.731s	25
14	6	Isack Hadjar	Red Bull Racing	+1.738s	23
15	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	+1.749s	23
16	31	Esteban Ocon	Haas F1 Team	+1.844s	26
17	43	Franco Colapinto	Alpine	+2.069s	23
18	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Audi	+2.070s	21
19	55	Carlos Sainz	Williams	+2.794s	19
20	77	Valtteri Bottas	Cadillac	+3.001s	21
21	25	Colton Herta	Cadillac	+3.927s	21
22	23	Alexander Albon	Williams	+40.416s	19

Ferrari makes an early impression in Austin

With warm conditions and bright Texas sunshine greeting the field, opening practice got underway at 12:30 local time, with Alpine’s Franco Colapinto leading the cars out of the pit lane for the first official running of the weekend.

The opening minutes featured plenty of aerodynamic evaluation as teams worked through their development programmes. Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto and Cadillac’s Colton Herta were among those running sizeable aero rakes to collect airflow data, with the American replacing Sergio Perez for the session in front of his home crowd.

Verstappen was one of the first drivers to raise a potential technical concern, reporting an unusual feeling through the steering of his Red Bull. The four-time world champion complained of friction when turning left, although the issue appeared to have little impact on his pace as the session developed.

Ferrari quickly established itself among the early frontrunners, with Leclerc setting the benchmark after the opening 15 minutes. Running on Pirelli’s medium compound, the Monegasque held a slender 0.074s advantage over team-mate Hamilton, offering an early indication that the Scuderia’s latest updates could deliver a useful step forward.

Mercedes, meanwhile, encountered some initial handling concerns. Russell asked his engineers to inspect the front wing after experiencing a sudden increase in understeer, but still managed to climb to fifth on the hard tyres. Antonelli was also running the hardest compound during the opening phase and moved into fourth as the leading teams continued their preparations.

Verstappen loses fastest lap as track limits become a factor

As the session moved beyond halfway, attention shifted towards outright performance, with more drivers switching to the soft C4 compound for their qualifying-style runs.

Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg was among the first to try the soft rubber, although his effort was accompanied by an unusual noise from the power unit that he reported to the team over the radio.

Leclerc made the most of the softer tyres, improving to a 1m 36.052s to strengthen his position at the top of the order. Hamilton was unable to match his team-mate’s initial improvement, losing valuable time after drifting onto the dusty section of the circuit and ending that attempt almost eight tenths behind.

Verstappen then launched a serious challenge for the fastest time. Having initially split the two Ferraris, the Red Bull driver produced a rapid 1m 35.862s lap that would have put him comfortably ahead of Leclerc.

However, his effort was deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn 19, handing the advantage back to Ferrari. Verstappen ultimately had to settle for second place, just 0.084s behind Leclerc, with Norris moving into third ahead of Russell and Antonelli.

Track limits proved a recurring talking point throughout the hour, with Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson also having lap times removed after running beyond the permitted boundaries. The incidents highlighted the fine margins around COTA, particularly through its faster sections where drivers were searching for every possible advantage.

Mercedes stays in contention as Williams focuses on data

While Ferrari, Red Bull and McLaren battled towards the front, Williams took a different approach to its opening session.

Neither Carlos Sainz nor Alex Albon registered a representative lap time during much of FP1, with the team concentrating on data collection rather than outright performance. Both drivers eventually attempted timed laps, with Sainz finishing 19th, while Albon ended the session at the bottom of the order after his representative effort was deleted.

The final stages were comparatively quiet as most teams moved away from low-fuel performance runs and turned their attention towards longer stints and race simulations.

With no further improvements threatening his benchmark, Leclerc remained fastest at the chequered flag, ahead of Verstappen and Norris. Russell and Antonelli secured fourth and fifth for Mercedes, while Hamilton finished sixth, just ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri in seventh.

Bortoleto delivered an encouraging result for Audi in eighth, leading the midfield runners ahead of Racing Bulls team-mates Arvid Lindblad and Lawson, who completed the top 10.

Haas driver Oliver Bearman finished 11th, followed by Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll in 12th and 13th respectively. Hadjar ended the session 14th in the second Red Bull after seeing more than one lap time deleted for track limits.

Alpine’s Pierre Gasly took 15th ahead of Haas driver Esteban Ocon, with Colapinto 17th and Hulkenberg 18th. Sainz followed in 19th, while Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas and Herta occupied 20th and 21st, leaving Albon 22nd.

The result provides Ferrari with an encouraging starting point, but the narrow gaps between the leading teams suggest the competitive order remains far from settled. Just 0.481s separated the top five, setting up an intriguing battle as the weekend develops.