F1: Verstappen tops practice for the USGP at COTA

–by Mark Cipolloni–

Before a huge crowd for a Friday, Max Verstappen turned a lap of 1m35.912s to top the only practice session for the USGP at COTA.

Charles Leclerc put his #16 Ferrari in 2nd, just 0.156s behind the Dutch World Champion.

Lewis Hamilton, putting the upgraded Mercedes floor to good use, was third quick, 0.281s behind Verstappen’s Red Bull Honda.

Sergio Perez was a respectable 4th, 0.300s behind his Red Bull teammate.

Kevin Magnussen in the heavily upgraded Haas rounded out the top-5, 0.560s back and his teammate Nico Hulkenberg was 9th, meaning the two upgraded Haas cars are performing well.

Teams now turn their attention to qualifying. Verstappen looks does not look that comfortable with the times being so tight, but Leclerc and Hamilton were not too far back. Three tenths exactly separated the top four, with Perez looking a lot better from the off than he has done of late.

Look out for Hamilton in qualifying because his fast lap was slightly impacted by traffic and I look for him to possibly win the pole today.

The McLarens and Aston Martins never made a run on the soft tires, so expect more from them in qualifying.

Lance Stroll had brake issue all session and turned very few fast laps.

Qualifying starts at 4:00pm Central Time.

2023 USGP Practice Results