What we learned from Friday testing at the 2026 United States GP

It was almost impossible to count the excess track limit pings that emerged during Formula 1’s Friday practice sessions at the United States Grand Prix – luckily the FIA ​​provides this as a document to save us the hassle. There were 79 deleted laps in FP1 and 128 in FP2 – that’s a mind-boggling amount of punishing laps on the circuit.

Fortunately, thanks to geofencing systems used by the FIA, these track limit infractions are dealt with almost instantly, but they will play a significant role in qualifying if drivers cannot keep their cars between the white lines. Most of these infractions involved turns 12, 19 and 20 – and given that this happens every year, it’s baffling why the race organizers didn’t add some sort of deterrent. Where is the gravel? Where are the stingers?

Ah, it looks like we went off track and earned ourselves a track limits penalty – so let’s end this digression here. The headline read: Charles Leclerc led both sessions, as his Ferrari looked pretty well-behaved over the bumps that invaded the Circuit of the Americas like a series of molehills.

Now his FP1 efforts have been slightly improved by Max Verstappen’s fastest lap transcending the fearsome track limits at Turn 19, demonstrating that those who stay the course during qualifying will prosper. But Leclerc set the fastest lap of FP2 without any deletions, just half a tenth behind champion-elect Kimi Antonelli – who could theoretically take the title this weekend. If the Italian wins the race, George Russell endures another horror show and Lewis Hamilton finishes no higher than fifth, the title is his – Verstappen cannot mount an improbable title bid if Antonelli does indeed win the race.

For Ferrari, Leclerc’s performance will be somewhat encouraging, especially considering the small updates introduced by the team for this round. Both drivers did their best to keep expectations muted, as Hamilton suggested they were worth less than a tenth of a second, but there will be more to them beyond just the leading lap time. Mercedes, meanwhile, continues to understand the impact of its own updates made at Sepang; he hadn’t fully figured them out during the freak weekend in Malaysia, and car-sharing in Singapore offered a better sense of what makes the new parts work. With two testing sessions in Austin, the team should have even more of an understanding of the updated W17.

But Red Bull is very much in the fight here – and well, Verstappen certainly is. The Dutchman’s early struggles with an inconsistent steering profile seemed alleviated, but teammate Isack Hadjar described his fastest lap (later deleted) in FP2 as “disgusting” as he struggled to keep the front of the car under control through high-speed corners. His engineer Richard Wood also noted that the Frenchman was also losing time in low-speed corners, prompting the irascible Hadjar to speak out more on air.

Verstappen has a real chance of securing a third consecutive F1 victory

Photo by: Bryn Lennon / Formula 1 via Getty Images

Among the other ‘Big Four’ teams, McLaren is an unknown at this stage. What we do know is that Oscar Piastri had his work cut out for him trying to get a competitive time with his MCL40; Although the Australian’s form has been stronger of late, attempts to marry his natural driving style with a car that loves to be harassed have not proven particularly miscible so far this weekend. Lando Norris also struggled to steer his car around the course without crossing lines, and a few off-track moments proved to be his undoing. During his race simulation, the Briton managed to record five consecutive laps which were all sanctioned by the race direction for exceeding the white lines. It is unknown at this point whether he faked the five-second penalty at the end.

The teams will be set to formulate their setup plans for the remainder of the weekend, and Friday was largely about trying to find the best ride heights to accommodate the trade-off between performance and circuit topography. Go too low and you’ll wear out the board in about 20 turns; go too high and you have no support. This may not be as punitive as under previous rules, but it is still an important area to explore.

Long average series of FP2

For this we took the softest tire that all teams raced with, given that almost all teams used the soft compound (C4) on their long runs, with the exception of Mercedes, Racing Bulls and Aston Martin.

Pirelli suggests the hard compound may only have a “limited” role in the race; this may only be an option if a team is really struggling to keep the soft tires for a decent stint

Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes appear to be evenly matched, although Antonelli’s race was carried out on support and therefore does not give a direct head-to-head. That said, Antonelli’s medium tire was the same one used at the start of the session, so it had undergone a few heat cycles before being extended to its longer run after the soft tire qualifying simulations.

Piastri’s “long” run was about 0.3 seconds per lap on average behind, although his stint wasn’t particularly long – nor was it any faster than Norris’ equivalent run on the hard tyres. In fact, Norris’ average would be at the top here, at 1’41”127, but in this case we tried to avoid harder compounds as much as possible.

Aston Martin offered no options as both drivers used the hard compound for their longer stints; Although the stints seem reasonable on the C2 (although with a three-rider sample it’s a little difficult to state this with certainty), Pirelli suggests the hard compound may only play a “limited” role in the race; This may only be an option if a team is really struggling to keep the soft tires for a decent stint.

Mercedes appears to be finding its way with its latest F1 update package

Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images

As for the C3 and C4, despite the difficulties faced by some drivers in keeping the car nailed on the track, the drop-off has not been particularly high and Pirelli once again predicts that a single stop will prove to be the main strategy for the race in Austin. But there is likely to be a gain in varying the offset of a tire; If a rider can stretch the softs at the start, he will be able to see an immediate advantage of the fresher medium tire over those that stopped earlier. But all of this depends on the ability of drivers to find a balance with their car; a blockage at the end of key acceleration zones at Turn 1 and Turn 12 would significantly harm these stint lengths.

In midfield, Racing Bulls appear to be well placed; Alpine’s long runs were good, but single-lap pace appeared somewhat elusive across both sessions – that being said, one suspects the Enstone team didn’t fully show their hand here. Haas appears to be close behind and would probably have to fight with Aston Martin and Audi.

Aston Martin appears to be in a decent position; Although the car unsurprisingly lacks outright power and it takes a toll on the straights, the upgraded AMR26 has found a degree of aerodynamic stability and it appears to be tractable in the high-speed corners around the COTA course.

Williams, however, appears to be in a tough spot; Alex Albon could barely string a lap together without the FW48 looking to explore beyond the track’s legally defined environs, and the pace on the long runs seemed to once again reflect the team’s struggles in the high-speed corners. However, I don’t think it’s unfair to suggest that this year’s Williams is suitable for any type of corner, and only Cadillac saves it from being the last team here.

Lawson looks set for a quality weekend, as Lindblad has an engine penalty to work around.

Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images

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