Charles Leclerc ended Friday running at the Circuit of The Americas as the fastest driver on track, taking top spot in FP2 with a slim advantage over Kimi Antonelli.
Under the Texas sun, FP2 got underway at 1600 local time as Pierre Gasly led the queue out of the pit lane for Alpine. Sergio Perez also made his return to his Cadillac after ColtonHerta drove in FP1. Max Verstappen quickly set the early pace with a 1m 36.581s lap on medium tyres, though his Red Bull team mate Isack Hadjar dealt with an early distraction from a visor he could not close properly. Track limits immediately caught out several drivers, with Lewis Hamilton, Hadjar, and Antonelli all having laps deleted, while Antonelli also contended with seat issues.
As times tumbled, George Russell briefly snatched P1 before Verstappen reclaimed the position. Lando Norris threatened to displace the Dutchman until a snap of oversteer forced him to abort his lap. George Russell later found himself under investigation and shown the black and white flag for forcing Leclerc off the track, though stewards ultimately took no further action. When the field bolted on the red-walled soft tyres for Qualifying simulations, Leclerc surged into first place. Track limits continued to bite, catching out Russell and Hadjar once again. Meanwhile, Hadjar did not mince words about his RB22, calling it disgusting as tyre degradation set in. Norris suffered a lock-up and ran off track, and Russell survived a scary moment on another flying lap.
With 20 minutes remaining, teams pivoted to long runs to close out their Friday programmes, leaving the early order locked in. When the chequered flag waved, Leclerc stayed unbeaten at the head of the timesheets. Antonelli slotted into P2 just 0.042s further back, followed by Verstappen, Hamilton, and Russell.
Liam Lawson put in an admirable sixth-place drive for Racing Bulls, beating the McLaren pair of Norris and Oscar Piastri, neither of whom were satisfied with their car handling. Hadjar and Haas driver Ollie Bearman rounded out the top 10. Further down the order, Gabriel Bortoleto claimed P11 for Audi ahead of Gasly, Arvid Lindblad for Racing Bulls, Esteban Ocon for Haas, Franco Colapinto in the second Alpine, Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll for Aston Martin, Nico Hulkenberg for Audi, Valtteri Bottas for Cadillac, Carlos Sainz for Williams, Perez for Cadillac, and Alex Albon for Williams.
With Friday's two hours of track action complete, the paddock will review the data ahead of Free Practice 3 on Saturday at 1230 local time, with Qualifying following at 1600.
