Lewis Hamilton heads Max Verstappen in final US GP practice dominated by track limits
Lewis Hamilton sets the pace in final practice at the United States Grand Prix.
Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton led Red Bull’s Max Verstappen as track limits dominated final practice session at Formula 1’s United States Grand Prix.
Seven-time world champion Hamilton was the only driver to dip into the 1m34s as he beat old F1 title rival Verstappen to the fastest time by 0.168 seconds.
Charles Leclerc, who topped both practice sessions on Friday, actually went quicker than Hamilton but lost his time for a track limits offence at Turn 9.
The Monegasque was one of several drivers including championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli, and McLaren’s Lando Norris, who had lap times deleted for breaching track limits at the Circuit of the Americas.
Formula 1 US Grand Prix: Full final practice results
Track limits could prove to be a major talking point in qualifying based on what we’ve seen throughout practice in Austin.
Leclerc’s best effort on medium tyres saw him take third, 0.234s behind than his Ferrari team-mate, while Antonelli was fourth and ahead of Mercedes team-mate George Russell on a weekend the 20-year-old Italian could win his first F1 world title.
Despite bringing upgrades, McLaren struggled to match the pace of its rivals as Oscar Piastri ended up over six tenths adrift in P6, ahead of Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg, who outpaced reigning world champion Norris.
Pierre Gasly and Isack Hadjar completed the top-10 for Alpine and Red Bull.
Gabriel Bortoleto,, who was 13th-fastest, faces a post-session investigation for blocking Hamilton as the Ferrari driver attempted to improve his benchmark time in the closing stages of FP3.
The Brazilian is likely to be reprimanded for the incident by the stewards.
Ferrari has been consistently strong with its upgraded SF-26 and the Italian team looks like it may have its best chance of claiming a first grand prix pole of the 2026 season later in qualifying.
Hamilton had struggled to match the pace of Leclerc on Friday but appears to have got his car into a much better set-up window based on his performance in FP3.
Qualifying for Sunday’s United States Grand Prix takes place at 10pm UK time.
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