The second triple-header of the 2026 Formula 1 season is officially underway at Austin, where the grid has hit the track to finesse their machines across the Circuit of the Americas' demanding corner combinations and multiple bumps, as The Race reports.
Charles Leclerc laid down an absolute marker in Ferrari colours, storming to the top of the timesheets with a lap of 1m36.052s. He didn't have it all his own way, though. Max Verstappen dragged his Red Bull to within a tiny 0.084s of the Ferrari, proving right out of the box that this weekend is going to be an intense fight at the sharp end.
Lando Norris slotted his McLaren into third with a gap of 0.245s, keeping right in touch with the top two. Behind him, George Russell led the Mercedes charge in fourth, trailing by 0.326s, while his teammate Kimi Antonelli put his Mercedes fifth with a 0.481s deficit. Lewis Hamilton rounded out the top six in his Ferrari, 0.503s off the pace set by his teammate.
Oscar Piastri brought the second McLaren home in seventh place, 0.734s back, ahead of Gabriel Bortoleto who steered his Audi to eighth with a gap of 0.943s. The Racing Bulls pair filled out the next spots, with Arvid Lindblad taking ninth at 1.011s and Liam Lawson right behind him in tenth, 1.257s off the lead.
Further down the order, the midfield battle shaped up with Ollie Bearman taking 11th for Haas at 1.613s, just ahead of the Aston Martin duo of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll in 12th and 13th respectively. Isack Hadjar slotted his Red Bull into 14th, Pierre Gasly took 15th for Alpine, and Esteban Ocon landed 16th in the second Haas. Franco Colapinto put his Alpine 17th on the board, followed by Nico Hulkenberg in 18th for Audi, and Carlos Sainz down in 19th for Williams.
At the tail end of the field, Valtteri Bottas put his Cadillac 20th with a gap of 3.001s, teammate Colton Herta followed in 21st at 3.927s, and Alex Albon rounded out the runners in 22nd for Williams, finishing well back with a massive gap of 31.812s.
