Austin, FP1: Hamilton edges Rosberg in first practice
Mercedes almost two seconds ahead in first practice
Lewis Hamilton topped the timesheet in opening practice for the United States Grand Prix, running three tenths quicker than team-mate and title rival Nico Rosberg. Max Verstappen was third for Red Bull.
Hamilton’s best time was set on the soft tyre after both he and Rosberg spent the early part of the session on the supersoft Pirelli compound, which is making its first appearance at the US Grand Prix this weekend.
Verstappen, meanwhile, set his best time on the medium tyre, which in part accounted for his being almost two seconds adrift of Hamilton’s time.
Verstappen finished just under three hundredths of a second clear of Kimi Raikkonen, though, like the Mercedes duo, the Ferrari driver set his best time on the soft tyre.
Nico Hulkenberg, who was recently announced as a 2017 works driver for Renault, finished the opening session in fifth place. The German kept Force India ahead of Williams in the tight battle for fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship, though he finished less than 0.1s ahead of Valtteri Bottas. Both set their best laps on soft tyres.
Daniel Ricciardo in the second Red Bull was seventh fastest and like team-mate Verstappen, the Australian only used the medium tyre during the session. Sebastian Vettel was eighth in the second Ferrari.
The final top ten positions were taken the Toro Rosso pairing of Daniil Kvyat, ninth, and Carlos Sainz. Both of the Italian squad’s drivers set their best times of the session on the supersoft tyres.
Behind them Felipe Massa finished in P11 ahead of Sauber’s Felipe Nasr and McLaren’s Fernando Alonso.
US team Haas opened their first home grand prix weekend with 14th and 15th places for Romain Grosjean and Esteban Gutierrez respectively. It was a tricky session for the home squad, with Grosjean damaging his car when he ran hard over the kerbs. Gutierrez then rtan over the debris moments later. Both drivers halted in the pit lane and had to be pushed back to the team’s garage,
Elsewhere there was a grand prix weekend for Briton Jordan King who took over the Manor of Pascal Wehrlein. King had a good outing, finishing in P20 ahead of Esteban Ocon on the other Manor, though the duo used different compounds to set their best times.
Pos. | Driver | Team | Time | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|
01 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes AMG | 1:37.428 | 25 |
02 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes AMG | 1:37.743 | 27 |
03 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Tag Heuer | 1:39.379 | 28 |
04 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1:39.407 | 21 |
05 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India Mercedes | 1:39.712 | 27 |
06 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams Mercedes | 1:39.776 | 30 |
07 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull Tag Heuer | 1:39.963 | 26 |
08 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:39.988 | 15 |
09 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso Ferrari | 1:40.131 | 16 |
10 | Carlos Sainz | Toro Rosso Ferrari | 1:40.140 | 26 |
11 | Felipe Massa | Williams Mercedes | 1:40.191 | 27 |
12 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber Ferrari | 1:40.287 | 16 |
13 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren Honda | 1:40.362 | 26 |
14 | Romain Grosjean | Haas Ferrari | 1:40.826 | 15 |
15 | Esteban Gutierrez | Haas Ferrari | 1:40.970 | 15 |
16 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber Ferrari | 1:41.170 | 17 |
17 | Alfonso Celis | Force India Mercedes | 1:41.422 | 27 |
18 | Jenson Button | McLaren Honda | 1:41.663 | 21 |
19 | Kevin Magnussen | Renault F1 | 1:41.942 | 22 |
20 | Jordan King | Manor Mercedes | 1:42.012 | 29 |
21 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault F1 | 1:42.332 | 31 |
22 | Esteban Ocon | Manor Mercedes | 1:43.874 | 27 |