Max third in second United States GP practice: 'Not a bad start'

Published on 24 October 2026 by Kees-Jan Koster

Max Verstappen finished third in the second free practice session ahead of the United States Grand Prix in his Oracle Red Bull Racing car. Max was just under two tenths of a second off Charles Leclerc, who put his Ferrari at the top of the timesheets, four hundredths of a second ahead of Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes.

Reflecting on Friday at the Circuit of the Americas, Max said: “It’s never easy at this circuit to find a good compromise between the car’s set-up for the slow and fast corners. The bumpy surface makes it even more difficult. We’ve been trying to find a good rhythm and balance in the car, and that’s what we worked on between the first and second free practice sessions. There’s still some work to do, but it wasn’t a bad start to the weekend.”

The track is busy from the outset. Most drivers begin their sessions on the medium tyres, including Verstappen, who is the fastest driver on track during the opening minutes. After 13 minutes, Max improves his time to 1:35.934, putting him one tenth of a second ahead of George Russell’s Mercedes. Lando Norris (McLaren) is third at that point, four tenths behind, but he is running on the hard tyres.

Russell and Leclerc nearly collide, prompting the stewards to investigate the incident, although no further action is taken. Antonelli sets the third-fastest time on a new set of soft tyres, almost three tenths behind Max, who, like several other drivers, has also switched to the soft compound. Max sets a 1:35.480 to take P1, putting him three tenths ahead of Russell. Shortly afterwards, Leclerc goes quicker still with a 1:35.291, making the Monegasque the fastest driver at COTA.

Norris appears to be struggling to keep his McLaren under control, with the car stepping out during his flying lap. Championship leader Antonelli moves up to second place with just under half an hour remaining, just 0.042 seconds behind. After a relatively quiet spell on the bumpy circuit, Max reappears on track, once again on soft tyres. Like most of the other drivers, the Dutchman focuses on long runs to work on the race set-up with 15 minutes remaining. No further improvements are made in the closing stages, leaving Max to finish the second free practice session in third place.

Results second free practice United States: