Ferrari enjoyed a good start to the 2026 F1 United States GP weekend, with Charles Leclerc topping the time chart in both FP1 and FP2. The Monegasque driver clocked the fastest lap on Friday, setting a 1:35.291 at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in FP2. On the other side of the garage, Lewis Hamilton finished both Free Practice sessions in the top 6 with a P6 finish in FP1 and a P4 finish in FP2 with a revised set-up.
Nonetheless, Leclerc anticipates that Ferrari will struggle to remain at the top as he hints that the upgrades the Scuderia brought to the 2026 F1 United States GP weekend were not as impactful as anticipated. Ferrari Team Principal Fred Vasseur also shared his reflections of the team’s first day at COTA, sharing it was “overall it was a good day.”
Leclerc and Vasseur also addressed the track limits concerns that plagued the F1 grid on Friday and shared their insights on the issue.
Leclerc on Ferrari’s upgrades brought to 2026 F1 United States GP weekend
Ahead of the 2026 F1 United States GP, Ferrari brought a significant aerodynamic package with them to COTA. These upgrades included a redesigned front floor leading edge as well as changes made to the sidepod inlets and diffuser.
Reflecting on Ferrari’s first outing at the 2026 F1 United States GP, Leclerc admitted the upgrades brought to COTA only felt like “a small step forward.” Nonetheless, he remains optimistic as the Scuderia had a strong start to the weekend and shows progress in the right direction.
“It felt good, it felt good, but it’s again, as I was saying yesterday, really not the gain that I’ve seen or heard about. It’s small gains, but it’s small gains that we could still see on the car. It doesn’t feel massively different, but it’s a small step forward. I think we also started the weekend on the right foot, with a good balance, and I think that is probably the outstanding thing for this Friday.”
Looking ahead to Qualifying
Despite setting the pace in both FP1 and FP2, Leclerc remains wary of the small margin. In FP1, the Monegasque only had a 0.084s lead over Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. While in FP2, it was a slimmer margin, with Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli only 0.042s slower.
Looking ahead to Qualifying, the nine-time race winner anticipates tough competition as the rest of the grid starts to push harder. Regardless, he does strongly believe that his Ferrari has the potential to fight for pole.
“I really hope so, but I also believe that the others will start pushing a bit more their cars as they always do come in quali, and so it’s going to be tough, because it’s been a very clean Friday on my side. There’s of course more performance in the car, a little bit more, but the others seem to be gaining more than us from the Friday to the Saturday, and seeing the little gap there is, it’s not going to be so easy tomorrow, of course.”
Insight on track limits concerns at COTA
The main takeaway from Friday at the 2026 F1 United States GP was track limits with the FIA reporting 79 track limit violations in FP1 alone.
When asked about the issue, Leclerc was surprised to have a cleaner session compared to the rest of the grid, with the 29-year-old admitting: “Was I? I felt like, I did like four today in FP2.”
The Monegasque then shared that he believed the FIA would be addressing the issues with the grid.
“Not on the fast laps, I think on the long runs, but it’s definitely going to be a thing, and probably we’ll speak about it already this afternoon, or tonight in the drivers’ briefing.”
According to Leclerc, the combination of the wide natrue of the COTA circuit and the high wind were the primary reasons for the high number of track limit violations. Drivers were left fighting with the high wind speeds in both sessions, which made every lock-up more intense.
“No, just the wind today was placed in a way that in the corners where the track limits are the trickiest, was also where the wind was kind of pushing us outside, so it was very difficult, because as soon as we will have a small lock-up, we’ll lose the line and then it was impossible to stay within the track limits.So it’s more that the way the wind was, was making it quite unforgiving and very difficult to stay within.”
Ahead of the weekend, Max Verstappen had brought up the concerns of the bumps around the COTA circuit and the lasting long-term impact driving at such tracks would have on the spinal health of the drivers. The Dutchman also shared that the new 2026 F1 cars would make the experience worse.
After driving his Ferrari around the COTA circuit on the first day of the 2026 F1 United States GP, Leclerc admitted that the track conditions were indeed challenging. The Monegasque shared: “Yeah, it was very poor. The first sector is particularly poor and very bumpy.”
Vasseur on Ferrari’s Friday performance at 2026 F1 United States GP
While Ferrari enjoyed a decent start to the 2026 F1 United States GP weekend, Fred Vasseur cautioned everyone not to read too much into the results. The Frenchman stressed that Friday was merely a day of testing as the Scuderia tried to gather more data on the upgraded chassis. Nonetheless, he is pleased with how Ferrari performed on their first day at the 2026 F1 United States GP.
Vasseur also addressed Lewis Hamtilon’s performance deficit compared to Charles Leclerc, who topped both Free Practice sessions. As explained by the Frenchman, the Briton was running on a different set-up to Leclerc. He then reiterated that it was merely Free Practice and not an accurate representation of either drivers’ raw pace.
“Yes, but we don’t have to pay too much attention to the performance of the Friday. For sure, I prefer to be in front than to be at the back. That’s not what I want to say. For us, it was not an easy one. When you have new parts on the car, you have to learn. We did some compare today. We lost a bit of time, but overall it was a good day.
“No, but I think on Friday, I don’t want to say that the target is not to be quick or to be in front. But we had a lot of things to learn today. We did some change of package on the Lewis car also during the day. It was more a test session. It’s free practice. Overall, it went well. We learned what we had to learn and it was a good way.”
Track limits concerns
While the high temperatures of the COTA circuit are an area of concern leading up to the 2026 F1 United States GP, the Ferrari Team Principal shared that track limits were his primary worry.
“It will, but it was for everybody. I think I’m more concerned about track limits. Because I think you had something like 254 track limits today.“
Vassuer then revealed that this was an area of concern that has been brought up for years and that the bumpy nature of the track will only make it worse. He added that he hoped the 2026 F1 United States GP would not be another event where the final classification would only come in hours after the chequered flag due to a high number of track limit violations.
“But I think it was already the case last year. It was the case two years ago. The more bumpy it is, the more difficult it is also. It would be a shame if the race on Sunday, you have to wait until 11pm to know the classification. But I think it’s also the Friday where you have to push and find the limit. It will be more in control tomorrow.”
Nonetheless, with regard to the high number of track violations on Friday at the 2026 F1 United States GP, Vasseur shared he was less surprised about the high numbers as there were “no consequences”
“It makes sense. Friday, it makes sense. We know that you have no consequences. It means that you can push, you can try to be at the limit and to see where is the limit. For sure, we have to do a step down at least for Sunday.”
