Friday at the Circuit of the Americas delivered a frantic, bumpy start to the weekend, with Charles Leclerc setting the pace for Ferrari across both practice sessions. Leclerc laid down a 1:36.052 to top FP1 before improving to a 1:35.291 in FP2, though he warned that competitors still have plenty of potential to unlock. Lewis Hamilton endured a trickier time in the sister Ferrari, finishing sixth in the opening session and fourth in the afternoon after struggling with car comfort over the bumps and a wide moment on the soft compound.
Over at Mercedes, Kimi Antonelli bounced back from a messy FP1 where he impeded Isack Hadjar, recovering to take second in FP2—less than half a tenth off Leclerc—despite a moving seat in the cockpit. George Russell fought through brake issues and a hairy moment with a big snap in sector one to post fifth in the second session. Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin admitted the team suffered with locking during a difficult first outing before repositioning both cars for a much more predictable afternoon.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen looked formidable, overcoming a deleted lap time in FP1 to finish second in that session and third in FP2 with a 1:35.480. Isack Hadjar had a more bruising introduction to the day, tumbling down the order after a deleted lap in FP1 and describing his afternoon runs as "disgusting" on the radio. Technical Director Pierre Wache noted that despite a less stiff setup than last year, the car remained non-compliant over the bumps, compounding tyre degradation concerns.
McLaren experienced a mixed day as Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri searched for consistent grip and handling balance. Norris managed third in FP1 before dropping to seventh in FP2, admitting the team remains a step behind their rivals in extracting speed consistently. Piastri wound up seventh and eighth across the two sessions, with Chief Technical Officer Rob Marshall pointing out that while medium and high-speed corners suit their package, low-speed sections remain a heavy focus.
In the midfield, Gabriel Bortoleto starred for Audi by running near the top ten with an FP2 time of 1:36.832, though he faces a back-of-the-grid start after taking on new power unit components. Nico Hulkenberg suffered a power unit issue that cut his FP1 short, leaving him down in eighteenth in both sessions. Meanwhile, Franco Colapinto faced a stop-start beginning for Alpine due to garage time in FP1 and an incoming 10-place grid drop for a new PU component, while team mate Pierre Gasly targeted improvements to break into the top ten during qualifying.
