Charles Leclerc set the pace in the opening practice session for the United States Grand Prix, putting an upgraded Ferrari at the top of the timesheet with a best lap of 1:36.052 around the Circuit of the Americas. Max Verstappen finished second, 0.084s back, in a session where Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull all brought new parts to the car.
The session opened the first leg of the sport's second triple-header of the season, and the three leading update packages made the hour a direct comparison of development direction rather than a routine installation run.
Leclerc fastest in Austin on revised Ferrari package
Ferrari's revisions cover the floor, sidepods and diffuser — the three areas that govern how much downforce the car can carry through COTA's rising Esses and how stable it stays over the crests. Leclerc was quick on both the medium and soft compounds, then set the benchmark on the softs.
The gap at the front was small enough that the order is not yet settled. Verstappen's best legal lap came within a tenth, and his quicker effort was removed for running wide at Turn 19, where the track limits enforcement has historically decided sessions in Austin.
Verstappen's deleted lap keeps Red Bull within reach
Red Bull brought its own updates to Austin, and the raw pace was there: the deleted lap was reported as two tenths faster than Leclerc's best. That margin, if repeated in qualifying, would put Verstappen ahead of the Ferrari rather than behind it.
Verstappen arrives as the winner of the last two races. The Turn 19 exit — a long, loaded right-hander where the car is still carrying lateral load while the driver tries to open the steering — is the obvious place to lose a lap this weekend.
McLaren and Mercedes take different update paths
Lando Norris was third in a McLaren that also carries changes, as the team looks to recover from a difficult run of races that has let Red Bull close in the fight for third in the Constructors' Championship. Norris's gap to Leclerc was not given in the session summary.
Mercedes, the championship leaders, brought no new parts to Austin. Both drivers are back on the specification introduced two races ago in Malaysia, after George Russell reverted to the older package in Singapore. Russell was fourth, 0.326s off the pace; team-mate Kimi Antonelli, who leads the drivers' standings, was fifth.
Hamilton sixth as soft-tyre run stalls
Lewis Hamilton ended the session sixth, half a second away from Leclerc, after his soft-tyre attempt did not come together. That is a single-run deficit rather than a confirmed pace gap, but it leaves the second Ferrari with work to do before qualifying.
What to watch in qualifying and the title maths
Antonelli can clinch the 2026 world title on Sunday if he wins the race and Russell and Hamilton fail to score enough points to keep themselves mathematically in contention. That calculation makes Sunday's result the pivot of the weekend, not Saturday's grid.
Practice Two follows on Friday, with qualifying on Saturday and the race on Sunday. The remaining sessions will show whether Ferrari's floor and diffuser changes hold their advantage over a full fuel load, and whether Verstappen can convert the pace he briefly showed before the stewards removed it.
The original report on first practice in Austin was published by skysports.com.
