FP2 at the 2026 F1 United States GP at Circuit of the Americas has been completed, view the full report here.
In FP1, Charles Leclerc was fastest from Max Verstappen and the Mercedes duo. Sergio Pérez returned to his Cadillac after Colton Herta ran earlier in the day.
Pierre Gasly kicked things off with a 1:38.716, before Max Verstappen did three purple sectors and clocked a 1:36.581. Most cars were on mediums, while the Ferraris, Astons and McLarens used the hards as they ran on the yellow side wall tyre in FP1. Colapinto was on softs.
Hamilton, Piastri, Hadjar and Antonelli all had their first times deleted as drivers struggled with Turns 19 and 20 once more. The championship leader returned to the garage because of a loose seat issue.
It was a good start for George Russell as a 1:36.035 put him 0.338s clear of Norris early doors. Hadjar, Verstappen and Leclerc completed the top 5. However, the Dutchman responded, logging a 1:35.934 to be P1 by 0.101s.
Plenty of incidents
As Piastri and Albon locked up and went deep at Turn 12 on separate occasions, Leclerc had to abort a lap as Liam Lawson blocked him in Turn 7.
At the end of the lap, Norris lost the rear and went onto the tarmac run-off.
A bizarre incident took place between Charles Leclerc and George Russell. The Mercedes overtook the Ferrari into Turn 16 as car #16 was going slowly. Then the Monegasque sped up as the Brit slowed. As Leclerc tried to pass into Turn 18, car #63 forced him off the circuit. He was handed a black and white flag for that.
Once Antonelli hit the track, he went into 3rd, behind Verstappen and Russell. All three were on the mediums.
Soft tyre running in FP2 at the 2026 F1 United States GP
Continuing his strong speed from FP1, Charles Leclerc pumped in a 1:35.291 to be fastest in the second session. He was 0.042s ahead of Kimi Antonelli; the Italian was 0.25 up after Sector 2 but lost almost 0.3s in the final one. Max Verstappen was 3rd, 0.189s off the pace.
Hamilton, Russell, Lawson, Norris, Piastri, Hadjar and Bearman completed the top 10. The seven-time World Champion was a full 0.6s off the pace in P4.
Having gone purple in the middle sector before the Italian did it, Norris had a bizarre snap entering Turn 16 and lost the rear, forcing him to abandon his attempt. George Russell had a monster snap of oversteer in Turn 5 and had to abort his own lap; his good friend Alex Albon had a very similar moment as the FW48 continued to be handling terribly.
On the race sims, there was significant tyre deg as sliding and a general lack of grip from the tarmac were the key factors.
