Max finishes first Austin practice in P2

Published on 23 October 2026 by Kees-Jan Koster

Max Verstappen finished the first practice session for the United States Grand Prix in second place, behind Charles Leclerc. The Ferrari driver was quick throughout the session and topped the timesheets for much of it. Max briefly knocked him off the top spot on the soft tyres, but saw his fastest lap deleted for exceeding track limits. Lando Norris finished third, followed by Mercedes drivers George Russell and Kimi Antonelli.

Max Verstappen began the session on the hard tyres, setting an initial time of 1:39.431. Over the team radio, he reported feeling some friction when steering. This weekend, he is not communicating with his regular race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, but with Tom Hart instead. Red Bull's senior performance engineer is stepping in because Lambiase will move to McLaren next year. A little later, Max improved his time to 1:38.040. The Dutchman is sporting a special race suit in Austin this weekend, complete with a matching helmet and cowboy hat.

There is plenty to see elsewhere on the grid, too. Ferrari has combined special race suits with a blueprint-style livery designed in collaboration with a sponsor. American teams Cadillac and Haas have also gone all out with eye-catching designs: Cadillac has opted for a denim theme, while Haas is sporting a Godzilla livery. Mercedes is running a special blue colour scheme in collaboration with a sponsor. Aston Martin has also teamed up with a partner, giving the nose of its car a striking cube pattern with blue accents.

In the opening part of the session, Ferrari sets the pace. Leclerc is the fastest on the medium tyres with a 1:36.761, while team-mate Hamilton is seven tenths of a second behind. Meanwhile, Max drops back to seventh place, partly because many of the drivers ahead of him are running on the medium tyres. However, Hadjar, Russell and Antonelli are also quicker than the Dutchman on the hard tyres. Almost halfway through the session, Albon, Sainz, Colapinto and American Formula 2 driver Colton Herta have yet to set a time. Herta is taking Pérez's seat for this practice session.

At the halfway point, Max returns to the track after a short break, this time on the soft tyres. He sets a 1:36.136, good enough for second place. A little later, he finds even more pace: with a 1:35.860, he becomes the first driver of the day to dip below the 1:36 mark. He takes the lead and goes two tenths of a second quicker than Leclerc. Max does not get to enjoy the top spot for long, however, as his lap time is deleted for exceeding track limits. He consequently drops back to second place.

In the final ten minutes, both Williams drivers finally manage to set times, although Albon's first lap is subsequently deleted for exceeding track limits. The teams focus mainly on long runs, so there is little change to the timesheets in the closing stages. Leclerc remains the fastest driver of the session, followed by Max. Norris finishes third, with Russell and Antonelli fourth and fifth respectively. Hamilton, who, like his team-mate, made a strong start to practice, has to settle for P6.

Results first free practice United States: