Ferrari leads Verstappen’s FP1 amid Red Bull number drama

No upgrades, no problem for Ferrari as they started the US Grand Prix race weekend in COTA with a double victory.

Max Verstappen started the race first on the soft tires, completing the top three as Formula 1 returned to the track, while talk of Red Bull’s race number dominated proceedings.

Ferrari’s best single US GP practice

The “fall break” was over as riders returned to action at COTA. FP1 marked the only practice session of the United States Grand Prix weekend and the F1 sprint format returned for this round.

And it was a newly resurfaced COTA track that the drivers had to contend with, this field also including Liam Lawson, who has replaced Daniel Ricciardo at VCARB for the remainder of the season while he pursues an F1 2025 spot within the Red Bull group strives for.

In the run-up to FP1, there was plenty of off-track drama surrounding the Red Bull RB20’s starting number, and when Verstappen received the message over the radio: “You know what the state of things is this weekend,” the question arose as to whether So was this a nod to the rival’s attention, or was it about Williams’ Franco Colapinto, who was completely out of shape in the first few minutes in front of Verstappen?

Alpine’s upgraded A524 wore its McLaren-esque Indiana Jones livery for Austin, but that couldn’t stop Pierre Gasly from spinning early in Turn 1, while Hamilton did the same through the Esses, put off by encountering one Haas. George Russell reported over the radio that he had just had a similar problem in this section.

Russell soon had another moment when the W15 – fitted with a six-piece upgrade – slid over him in Turn 1.

One team that had no problems at this early stage of the race weekend was Ferrari, who took the alternative route to title rivals Red Bull and McLaren by not improving their SF-24. 20 minutes into the session, Charles Leclerc was in first place in a Ferrari one-two, 0.265 seconds ahead of teammate Carlos Sainz.

The hard Pirelli tire had been the compound of choice for much of the first half of FP1.

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From then on, Verstappen was the first frontrunner to make the jump to the soft tires, achieving a time of 1:33.8, the new benchmark for the competition. Verstappen replied that the tires were a little too cold for him at the start of this lap. Verstappen didn’t find any extra time on his second attempt with this set.

Sergio Perez remained almost nine tenths behind his teammate and complained that he was bouncing at lower speeds.

As the first practice session entered its final 20 minutes, Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu wanted to continue his run on soft tires, but a loss of power forced him to return to the pit lane.

Russell gathered his background knowledge for a push lap by asking how far the wide drivers would go into Turn 9. The Brit said that Verstappen would drive to the limit of the blue line.

With the clock ticking with less than 10 minutes to go, the qualifying simulations began in earnest. Could Verstappen’s 1:33.8 stand up to the test?

The answer was no, as Sainz put Ferrari back on top with a time of 1:33.602. Oscar Piastri triggered the virtual safety car by driving into the pit entrance at far too high a speed and having to get out.

In a reversal of the rankings at the start of the session, Sainz would lead the FP1 standings ahead of Leclerc and Verstappen would complete the top three.

Full FP1 times follow…