21:01
Practice 2
Welcome back to live coverage of today's F1 practices at COTA. FP2 is due to get underway in just under and hour's time at 16:00 local time.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, 2026 F1 US Grand Prix. Credit: XPB.
© XPB Images
LIVE
F1 US GP LIVE: Friday practice updates from COTA
Live updates from the Friday practice sessions at the F1 US GP at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.
Live coverage of Friday's practice sessions at the 2026 F1 US GP at the Circuit of the Americas. Practice 2 is due to start at 16:00 local time after Charles Leclerc topped the opening session.
Key Moments
- FP2 to start at 16:00 local time/22:00 BST
- Leclerc tops FP1 ahead of Verstappen, Norris
- Leclerc maintains Ferrari advantage as soft runs begin
- Ferrari leads FP1 early as Verstappen complains of steering issues
The Circuit of the Americas hosts the 18th round of this season's Formula 1 World Championship, which will also be the first opportunity for Andrea Kimi Antonelli to wrap up this year's title. The Italian leads the standings by 102 points over George Russell after a disastrous Singapore weekend for the British driver, but would need to be 125 clear after Sunday's race to be crowned champion with five races remaining. Antonelli was the slower of the Mercedes drivers in FP1, finishing one place behind Russell in fifth.
Antonelli has won eight races this year, more than any other driver, but hasn't stood on the top step since he won in Madrid back in September. In the meantime, Max Verstappen has become F1's in-form driver, winning the last two races. Only a pair of DNFs have prevented a 100 per cent podium record for Verstappen since June's Austrian Grand Prix, and the Dutchman is the defending COTA winner.
In fact, Verstappen's COTA record is excellent, he hasn't finished off the podium in Texas since 2017, but that hasn't stopped him from berating the track surface ahead of this weekend's race. Reigning champion Lando Norris joined in with the criticism, the British driver saying he needs headache tablets to cope with the bumps. Both Verstappen and Norris were competitive in Practice 1, finishing second and third, respectively, behind Charles Leclerc.
McLaren and Red Bull are among the teams introducing updates this weekend. Ferrari also has some new parts for COTA, but none that had Lewis Hamilton too enthusiastic about their potential impact on performance when he spoke ahead of the weekend. Still, it was that upgraded Ferrari, in the hands of Leclerc, that topped the first session of the weekend.
23 Oct 2026
19:42
FP1 Result
2026 f1 us grand prix - fp1 result
George Russell, 2026 F1 US Grand Prix. Credit: XPB.
© XPB Images
19:32
Leclerc tops FP1
FP1 has concluded in Texas and it's Charles Leclerc who ends fastest from Verstappen, Norris, Russell, Antonelli, and Hamilton in the top-six.
19:26
Only Sainz and Hulkenberg in the pits at the moment. Hulkenberg was reporting a problem earlier, either gearbox or power unit - he wasn't sure when reporting over the radio.
19:23
Long runs well underway now.
Leclerc with the medium, Verstappen and Norris with soft, Russell with hard, Antonelli and Hamilton with soft.
19:12
Hamilton was a PB in the second sector on his most recent lap but ran off track at turn 19 so bailed on it. P6 at the moment, not quite able to find the performance from the Ferrari that Leclerc has done so far.
19:10
Verstappen's had that lap deleted, for turn 19 presumably, so Leclerc back to the top by 0.084s.
19:08
Hadjar had his first soft lap deleted, but has gone P4, +0.6s with his next one.
Verstappen has gone fastest by 0.192s but might have exceeded track limits at turn 19.
19:06
Norris third and +0.245s with his first lap on softs, 0.7s ahead of Piastri though.
19:04
Antonelli the next over the line with softs, 0.461s off the pace of Leclerc. Looking not so great for Mercedes at the moment, but Antonelli will be content enough with his 0.4s gap to Russell given the state of the championship.
19:03
Hamilton blew his first soft tyre lap at turn one, ran wide and lost the rear.
Verstappen 0.084s off Leclerc with his first soft tyre lap, so that's much closer to the Ferrari speed than Russell had managed.
19:02
Leclerc confirms Ferrari's pace
Russell 1m36.889s for third on softs, but Leclerc nails his soft run with a 1m36.052s. He's 0.8s clear of Russell. Ferrarri looking very strong.
19:01
1m37.561s puts Lindblad P7 with his first soft attempt, Hadjar goes third and 0.157s behind Leclerc's medium benchmark.
19:00
Some drivers heading out on softs now. Lindblad looks like the first to start a lap, Hadjar not too far behind.
18:59
Top 10
Halfway through this FP1 session, here's your top-10:
- Leclerc (M)
- Hamilton (M)
- Norris (M)
- Antonelli (H)
- Russell (H)
- Piastri (M)
- Hadjar (H)
- Verstappen (H)
- Lawson (H)
- Lindblad (H)
18:57
Ferrari's US GP upgrades explained
Here's an explainer on Ferrari's new aero updates for the US GP, which have been described as "impressive" by Sky Sports' Ted Kravitz.
The update is an evolution of the package that was debuted in Madrid last month and focuses on improving the efficiency of the floor and diffuser.
Ferrari has brought a big upgrade to the United States GP
18:52
Colapinto, Herta, and both Williams still without a lap time.
18:51
Russell's had laps deleted, he's 17th with a best time over a minute off the pace, but he improves now to go fifth and within a few hundredths of his team-mate.
18:50
Leclerc also fighting the back end on the Ferrari after a few laps on his mediums, as Antonelli sets a new PB after 20 minutes on the hard, only 0.001s slower than Norris with that.
18:49
Norris loses time in the second split but with a personal best in sector three to get within half-a-second of the Ferraris. Stays P3. Tyres looked pretty dead from the on-board.
18:47
Russell complaining of a front wing issue over the radio. Says he "suddenly" ran into understeer in a high-speed corner.
18:46
Hamilton purple in the final sector to move within a tenth of his team-mate.
Antonelli up to sixth with his latest lap. He and Russell had dropped behind Lawson before that lap, the Racing Bulls driver also on the hard tyre.
18:45
Norris was purple in the first two sectors on his latest lap, but he's consistently losing time in the final split. Possibly an energy thing, possibly the way McLaren are using the tyres over the lap versus Ferrari. 0.7s off the top now is Norris.
18:44
Better lap from Hadjar, up to fifth and ahead of Verstappen.
18:43
Leclerc back to the top, 1m36.761s is the first sub-1.37s of the day.