Who Has the Upper Hand After First Day of Practice at the US Grand Prix

Charles Leclerc led the opening day of practice at the 2026 US Grand Prix, topping both sessions at the Circuit of the Americas. The Ferrari driver showed impressive speed with the team’s latest aerodynamic upgrades, finishing Friday at the top of the timesheets.

Ferrari made an encouraging start to the US weekend as Leclerc led FP1 with a 1:36.052 lap time, ahead of Max Verstappen. Lando Norris was third-fastest in the opening session. Mercedes driver George Russell and Kimi Antonelli finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

Leclerc completed a Friday clean sweep by improving his time to 1:35.291 in FP2, edging out Mercedes title contender Antonelli by 0.042 seconds. Verstappen rounded out the top three.

Leclerc teammate and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton finished fourth, although he was around six-tenths of a second off Leclerc’s pace. Russell completed the top five of the second practice session.

Kimi Antonelli Bounced Back in FP2

Title contender Kimi Antonelli bounced back strongly in the second practice session for Mercedes, ending the day just 0.042 seconds behind Leclerc. The 20-year-old driver showed a significant improvement in pace after ending the opening session in fifth place.

The Mercedes driver will also have a major championship opportunity this weekend to become the youngest F1 world champion if he manages to secure a victory in Austin, depending on his rivals’ finish.

For him to be crowned champion this weekend, Russell will have to finish below P9 and Hamilton below P5 if the Italian takes victory on Sunday. If not, he will get another shot at the title in Mexico on the following weekend.

Charles Leclerc names Antonelli and Verstappen as key US Grand Prix threat

Despite dominating the opening day of practice at the US Grand Prix, Leclerc has kep his expectations in check as he believes Antonelli and Verstappen will come stronger on Saturday’s practice and qualifying.

“We shouldn’t carry too high expectations going into tomorrow because I feel like the others have more potential to unlock for sure,” Leclerc told Sky Sports.

“Kimi and Max seem to be very, very strong. The McLaren I don’t really know yet, I don’t think they put everything together yet. But Kimi and Max will definitely be up there.”

Verstappen, who is coming off a winning momentum following wins in Singapore and Malaysia, remained close to the leading pace and can be a threat to Ferrari and Mercedes for the remainder of the weekend. He is also a defending winner of the United States Grand Prix.

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