Max trails Sainz in Austin FP1
Published on 21 October 2022 by Stefan Meens
Max Verstappen clocked the second fastest time in the opening practice session of the United States Grand Prix. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was two tenths quicker than the two-time world champion. Lewis Hamilton completed the top three in his Mercedes. Max’ Oracle Red Bull Racing team mate Sergio Perez was fourth fastest.
As the session gets underway under dry and sunny conditions, four rookies make their official Formula 1 debut at the Circuit of the Americas. At Ferrari, Robert Shwartzman replaces Charles Leclerc, Alex Palou occupies Daniel Ricciardo’s seat at McLaren, Theo Pourchaire drives the Alfa Romeo instead of Valtteri Botta and Williams run Logan Sargeant in place of Alex Albon. Meanwhile, Antonio Giovinazzi steers Kevin Magnussen’s Haas.
At the start of the session, it is busy on track with most drivers keen to get their installation laps in. Sadly, for Giovinazzi, his FP1 appearance is curtailed to just four laps as four minutes into the session, the Italian ends up in the barriers. He is able to reverse his Haas out of the tyres and drive back to the pits, but the incident marks the end of his weekend.
Max, who had to abort a flying lap due to the red flag, returns to the track for another attempt. With three purple sectors, the Red Bull ace goes quickest. Max continues to set the pace as he improves his time in the subsequent run.
At the halfway mark, Aston Martin spring a surprise as Sebastian Vettel goes second fastest on the soft Pirellis. The German cannot enjoy his high ranking for long; soon after other drivers bolt on the softest tyre compound, resulting in the usual suspects rising to the top. Of the front runners, Sainz sets the pace.
With ten minutes to go, Max heads out on a set of soft to attempt to topple Sainz, but fails to do so, meaning the Spaniard tops FP1, ahead of the reigning world champion.
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Results first free practice United States:
| pos | driver | team | time | gap | laps | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carlos Sainz | SAI | Ferrari | 1:36.857 | 18 | |
| 2 | Max Verstappen | VER | Red Bull Racing RBPT | 1:37.081 | +0.224s | 14 |
| 3 | Lewis Hamilton | HAM | Mercedes | 1:37.332 | +0.475s | 19 |
| 4 | Lance Stroll | STR | Aston Martin Mercedes | 1:37.460 | +0.603s | 23 |
| 5 | Sergio Perez | PER | Red Bull Racing RBPT | 1:37.515 | +0.658s | 18 |
| 6 | Fernando Alonso | ALO | Alpine Renault | 1:37.713 | +0.856s | 24 |
| 7 | George Russell | RUS | Mercedes | 1:37.802 | +0.945s | 22 |
| 8 | Pierre Gasly | GAS | AlphaTauri RBPT | 1:37.810 | +0.953s | 23 |
| 9 | Lando Norris | NOR | McLaren Mercedes | 1:37.856 | +0.999s | 22 |
| 10 | Sebastian Vettel | VET | Aston Martin Mercedes | 1:38.041 | +1.184s | 24 |
| 11 | Esteban Ocon | OCO | Alpine Renault | 1:38.102 | +1.245s | 23 |
| 12 | Zhou Guanyu | ZHO | Alfa Romeo Ferrari | 1:38.276 | +1.419s | 20 |
| 13 | Alexander Albon | ALB | Williams Mercedes | 1:38.422 | +1.565s | 20 |
| 14 | Yuki Tsunoda | TSU | AlphaTauri RBPT | 1:38.898 | +2.041s | 22 |
| 15 | Mick Schumacher | MSC | Haas Ferrari | 1:38.922 | +2.065s | 20 |
| 16 | Robert Shwartzman | Ferrari | 1:38.951 | +2.094s | 20 | |
| 17 | AlexPalouPAL | McLaren Mercedes | 1:39.911 | +3.054s | 21 | |
| 18 | Theo Pourchaire | Alfa Romeo Ferrari | 1:40.175 | +3.318s | 19 | |
| 19 | Logan Sargeant | Williams Mercedes | 1:40.325 | +3.468s | 22 | |
| 20 | Antonio Giovinazzi | GIO | Haas Ferrari | 1:43.063 | +6.206s | 4 |
