Leather boots, Cowboy hats and iconic races – COTA is a favourite among fans. With free practice 1 being the only session before Sprint Qualify, this session is particularly important for the teams.
Rocking the new Liveries
6 teams this weekend are modelling special liveries for the United States Grand Prix, including Williams and HAAS. FP1 was the first instance fans got to see these new designs on track under the Texan sun.
The black, white and gold Racing Bulls car seemed solid throughout free practice today. In the early stages of the session, Liam Lawson was pushing towards the top of the timings, while his Isack Hadjar complained on the radios about traffic.
McLaren also have a special livery this weekend, rocking an iridescent look. Neither driver pushed in the early stages of FP1 but Norris remained the lead driver throughout the session.
Collecting Data
With only 1 practice session before qualifying and the sprint race, it was more important than ever that the drivers collected as much data as they could. Charles Leclerc’s rear wing was no longer scarlet red, as he was one of a few drivers using the neon yellow flow vis paint to gather intel.
His teammate Lewis Hamilton found a lot of pace in his Ferrari. The 7 time champion is no stranger to a good result at this circuit, and he put this experience to practice. 20 minutes gone of FP1 and he topped the timing table, knocking Verstappen down to P2 for the time being.
Having renewed his contract the other day for next season and fresh off a victory, George Russell was keen today to show his abilities around COTA. He tucked himself behind Verstappen in P3, 0.132 seconds the difference.
Debris Casusing a Red Flag
5 minutes of FP1 was lost today under red flag conditions due to debris flying off Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin. While it did not cause any issues for any drivers, the piece that flew off was significantly large so needed to be removed.
As the session resumed, Stroll’s car was being carefully investigated by his engineers, getting to the bottom of what went wrong. Luckily, they were able to resolve his issue and get him back on track later in the session.
Also with issues this session was Carlos Sainz, who was told to box with a suspected gearbox issue. He was running 6th fastest at the time.
Closing Stages
10 minutes left of the session and many drivers began putting on sets of soft and medium tyres. Hamilton initial fastest lap on hard tyres was quickly taken as drivers began pushing.
Fernando Alonso shocked spectators and his own team when he sent his Aston Martin to provisional pole position. But by the time the chequered flag came out, this was taken by Lando Norris. Alonso was ultimately knocked down to 4th, being outdone by Piastri in P3 and Hülkenberg in P2.
Hamilton remained the fastest driver on the Medium tyres, having not done a stint on the soft tyres. He finished 8th fastest overall. Charles on the other hand, did not have a good session at all. He had many issues that require fixing and finished last having not done a soft tyre run.