Leclerc United States GP practice double: Ferrari's Charles Leclerc completed a Friday sweep at the United States Grand Prix, topping both sessions in Austin. His FP2 time of 1:35.291s put him 0.042s clear of Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, after he had narrowly beaten Red Bull's Max Verstappen in the opening session. Leclerc improved by almost eight tenths later in the day, a gain that moved Ferrari from competitive to leading.
Leclerc United States GP practice double
Leclerc's second-session lap was built on a cleaner soft-tyre run than his rivals managed. The Ferrari driver's 1:35.291s stood as the benchmark, with Antonelli 0.042s back and Verstappen within a couple of tenths in third. The gap at the front is small enough that qualifying execution, not raw pace alone, will decide the grid.
Hamilton could not match his team-mate's rhythm across the day and finished fourth, more than six tenths adrift. Russell was fifth in the other Mercedes, seven tenths back from Antonelli, leaving both Mercedes drivers seeking overnight answers before qualifying.
Antonelli and Mercedes close the gap
Antonelli's second place keeps him in the centre of the title picture. The Mercedes driver could become Formula 1's youngest ever world champion on Sunday if he wins and Russell and Hamilton do not score sufficient points to stay in mathematical contention. That scenario depends on a result, not on Friday pace, but the gap to Leclerc is small enough to keep the possibility live.
Mercedes are still trying to optimise the package they brought two rounds ago in Malaysia, which has so far failed to deliver the improvement they anticipated. Russell's seven-tenth deficit to his team-mate suggests the car remains sensitive to set-up and tyre preparation rather than simply lacking peak speed.
McLaren and Williams lose clean running
McLaren suffered a disappointing day as Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri finished seventh and eighth. Both failed to deliver clean laps on their soft-tyre runs, a costly error on a circuit where tyre preparation and traffic management shape the order. The team's upgrade package did not translate into a representative Friday headline time.
Williams had a torrid afternoon. Carlos Sainz was 20th and Alex Albon 22nd as their car struggled to meet the challenges of the high-speed circuit. Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson took sixth, while Verstappen's team-mate Isack Hadjar cut a frustrated figure over team radio after managing only ninth.
Upgrades and what to watch in qualifying
Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull have each brought upgrades to the event. Ferrari's package featured updates to the floor, sidepod and diffuser, and appeared to offer hope the Italian team could end a run of eight races without victory. Red Bull's Verstappen remains in contention to extend his streak of two successive victories after finishing third.
There was early drama in the session as Russell was investigated for forcing Leclerc off track. The stewards decided there had been "nothing dangerous" in the manoeuvre and took no further action. The ruling removed a potential grid penalty from the weekend's storyline but left the on-track margin between the two drivers under scrutiny.
Qualifying is scheduled for 10pm on Saturday, with the race at 8pm on Sunday, live on Sky Sports F1. Practice Three starts at 6.30pm on Saturday. The final practice hour will show whether Ferrari's Friday advantage survives a more representative qualifying simulation, and whether Mercedes can close the seven-tenth gap that separated Russell from Antonelli.
The original report is from skysports.com.
