AUSTIN, Texas – Lewis Hamilton topped the timesheets in the third and final hour of practice, ahead of Max Verstappen and teammate Charles Leclerc, creating a dramatic qualifying session at the Formula One United States Grand Prix.
The session began at 12:30 p.m. local time under partly cloudy skies with a temperature of 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Several teams wasted no time, however, with Sergio Perez, Gabriel Bortoleto and Franco Colapinto taking to the straight at the end of the pit lane at the green light.
However, several other teams took it easy at the start, with the likes of Lando Norris, Verstappen, Oscar Piastri, Leclerc and Oliver Bearman stuck in the garage waiting to take to the track. Perez and Colapinto owned the track when Bortoleto came down the pit lane again.
Gasly soon joined the fray, as did Valtteri Bottas, and by the time the clock hit 53 minutes, the Cadillac and Alpine duo had the track to themselves.
Things started to pick up at the 50 minute mark as more cars took to the track. A few more representative times were soon to follow, as in minute 47 Gasly topped the timesheets with a time of 1:37.592 set on the C3 medium tyre.
Hamilton then held the spot with a 1:36.716, the times started to come in and he fell.
The first big surprises came around 43 minutes into FP3 as Liam Lawson topped the timesheets with a 1:36.420 on a set of C3 medium tyres. His top spot would not last long as Piastri pipped him with a 1:36.243 followed by Max Verstappen in the middle with a 1:35.702.
Hamilton then responded and topped the board with a lap of 1:35.561.
Midway through FP2, the top five on the board were Hamilton, Verstappen, Norris, George Russell and Isack Hadjar. While the teams and names weren’t a surprise, the wheel choices might have been. Hamilton, Norris and Russell set those times on C4 soft tyres, and Hadjar and Verstappen on C3 discs.
It spoke of speed with the RB22 on both Saturday and Sunday.
Two more names entered the mix as the second half of FP 3 began. Leclerc took the lead on the medium set of tires – perhaps speaking both to Ferrari’s pace and the small improvements the team brought to Austin – and then Drivers’ Championship leader Kimi Antonelli finished third on the soft set.
Things suddenly turned a little sporty as Russell, Esteban Ocon and Nico Hülkenberg treated proceedings like it was Sunday rather than Saturday:
At the 20-minute mark, many of the top drivers were in the garage, including the Ferrari pair, Verstappen and the McLaren duo. But Antonelli was in full attack mode, using fresh C4 soft tires bolted to the W17. Behind him? His Mercedes teammate Russell also with a fresh set of soft tires.
Antonelli went purple in sector one and purple in sector two as he followed 0.414s ahead of the benchmark time set by Leclerc. He came home with a lap time of 1:35.015, a new benchmark and a clear warning to the rest of the grid.
But it was to no avail as his time was written off for exceeding the track limits in turn 9.
Then it was Verstappen’s turn as Red Bull fitted a set of soft tires to his RB22. He was fastest through the first sector and was still on Leclerc in the second sector. Verstappen came home in 1:35.061, setting a new standard for the session.
That standard only lasted a few seconds as Hamilton crossed the beam with a 1:34.893.
Finally, we got a representative lap from Leclerc in the softs, which put Ferrari’s other driver on top as he pipped Hamilton in P2 with a 1:34.810.
However, that lap was also soon erased, with Leclerc exceeding the track limits at turn 10.
Track limits could be something to watch during qualifying later today after a staggering 207 laps were erased in Friday’s two practice sessions and race officials eased track limits at several points on the track, including turns 12, 15 and 20.
With less than ten minutes to go, perhaps the biggest surprise was the driver sitting in P7, as it was none other than Hülkenberg, who sat well inside the top ten. Could he prepare a late-in-the-day Q3 shocker with Audi?
Hülkenberg may have, but his team-mate may have been in a bit of hot water as race officials flagged Gabriel Bortoleto for potentially impeding Hamilton during a push lap in the final minutes of the session.
In the last minutes of the session, there was some drama from the Red Bull pair. First it was from Verstappen, who locked his RB22 entering Turn 15 and sent smoke onto the track as he broke tires. Then Hajar, who was locked in turn 1, met Alexander Albon on the racing line. The two drivers had a little … moment on the track before going their separate ways.
Hamilton was still at the top of the grid at the checkered flag, followed by Verstappen, Leclerc, Antonelli and Russell rounding out the top five. Piastri finished sixth, with Hulkenberg, Norris, Gasli and Hadjar rounding out the top ten.
Liam Lawson was in 11th place, followed by teammate Arvid Lindblad in 12th place. Bortoleto, Bearman, Colapinto, Alonso, Ocon, Stroll, Albon, Sainz, Perez and Bottas completed the rest of the grid.
What does all this mean for today’s qualifier?
This could mean we have a shootout on our hands in Austin.