2014 US Grand Prix Friday - Practice
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EDD STRAW at the trackside: Kvyat is all over the place, constantly correcting the rear and stabbing at the throttle. Messy, but he's keeping the minimum speed up and hanging on.
He's certainly not lacking the confidence to attack.
He's certainly not lacking the confidence to attack.
Quote
"Front is a bit weak in the high-speed corners, and the rear is tricky to manage on traction. But not awful," is how Ricciardo describes his Red Bull to his team over the radio.
Third place changes hands again: this time it's Raikkonen grabbing it for Ferrari.
Nasr reclaims third from Ricciardo.
Magnussen closes up on Button at the top, the gap coming down to 0.306s.
Daniel Ricciardo and his curious facial hair go third for Red Bull, ahead of Williams's two Felipes.
Small lock-up from Alonso there going into Turn 12. The Spaniard is currently sixth quickest, his expected departure from Ferrari still yet to be confirmed.
Twitter
The Lotus isn't the only car sporting a new look for this session - the McLarens are sporting some rather garish orange SAP stickers on their sidepods this weekend, as this tweet from McLaren shows.
Stopwatch
As Button improves his session-topping time to a 1m41.158s, team-mate Kevin Magnussen makes it a McLaren one-two.
EDD STRAW has moved round to the Turn 3-4-5 section, where he notes that Nasr is "certainly spectacular".
Times are shuffling rapidly as the track comes properly up to speed. Felipe Massa is now second between Button and Alonso.
Alonso does Ferrari's first competitive time of the day and goes second, albeit 1.4s off Button.
One or two sparks coming from Verstappen's Toro Rosso as the 17-year-old rides the kerbs.
Verstappen improves on his previous time to slot back into fourth, behind fellow Friday guest Nasr and ahead of Rosberg.
Williams test driver Felipe Nasr pops himself into third place, between the two Mercedes.
Stopwatch
Button improves the benchmark to a 1m41.772s.
Verstappen has also set a time, going fourth quickest before being demoted a place by Magnussen.
Stopwatch
Hamilton goes quicker on a 1m43.517s, but that's soon beaten by Button, who sets a new benchmark of 1m43.245s.
Stopwatch
Rosberg goes fastest on a 1m46.317s, but Hamilton is quicker than that on the splits.
The track is getting busier again in the second half of the 'extra tyres bonus' period. Half the field is out and both Mercedes improving.
There still appear to be a number of small damp patches on the circuit after overnight rain, but their effect on the timesheets will be minimal.
More insight from EDD STRAW up at Turn 1:
Everyone is being cautious on the throttle at the exit. The reduction in rear downforce this year means the cars are far more grip limited at the corner exit phase.
As the road drops away out of this turn, it's even easier to get the rear out of shape.
Everyone is being cautious on the throttle at the exit. The reduction in rear downforce this year means the cars are far more grip limited at the corner exit phase.
As the road drops away out of this turn, it's even easier to get the rear out of shape.
Vettel and his Captain America helmet have taken to the track now.
Sutil peels into the pits having completed four laps, the most of anyone so far.
Most cars are back in the pits after the installation laps. Sauber's Adrian Sutil has gone third quickest (and slowest) of those with a time.
EDD STRAW is up at Turn 1 for this session. He notes a slight lock-up from Hamilton heading into the corner.
The tricky uphill approach is bind so it takes drivers a while to nail the braking point here.
Rosberg, by contrast, was fine with the fronts but the rear was unstable under braking and at turn-in.
The tricky uphill approach is bind so it takes drivers a while to nail the braking point here.
Rosberg, by contrast, was fine with the fronts but the rear was unstable under braking and at turn-in.
Nasr appears to be having a right-side sidepod changed on his Williams in the pits.
Raikkonen's car is wheeled back to the pits, where everyone currently is bar Hamilton and Sutil following a spate of installation runs.
Stopwatch
He's quickly outpaced by team-mate Hamilton with a 1m49.164s.
Stopwatch
All drivers have taken to the track now, and Rosberg sets the first time of the day with a 1m50.219s.
Raikkonen's Ferrari is boasting a rather odd-looking sensor, the Finn doing a constant speed run.
Magnussen takes to the track too.
Only Daniel Ricciardo and Kevin Magnussen are yet to leave the pits.
Green flag
The green light is on and the cars start to hit the track.
For this session, Max Verstappen and Felipe Nasr will be in the saddle, replacing Jean-Eric Vergne - who the Dutchman wants to be his team-mate next year when he makes his race debut - and Valtteri Bottas respectively.
BEN ANDERSON: "Lotus has decided that Romain Grosjean will be the guinea pig for its experimental non twin-tusk nose in this session."
Lotus new nose
In other news, Lotus will have a radical new look in this session as it trials a 'wedge' style nose in readiness for 2015, when its twin-tusk solution will be outlawed:
Experimental Lotus nose revealed
Breaking news
One potential fix to the grid numbers problem that has been mooted has been for the larger outfits to run third cars, but several prominent figures with the sport have warned against such a plan. JONATHAN NOBLE has the story:
F1 warned against third cars
F1 warned against third cars
Breaking news
It's been an eventful few weeks for the sport since the conclusion of the Russian Grand Prix in Sochi, with both Caterham and Marussia failing to make the trip across the Atlantic after going into administration.
That means only 18 cars will take to the track this weekend, the lowest entry since the 2005 Monaco Grand Prix, meaning there will be a tweak to the usual qualifying format - as JONATHAN NOBLE reveals:
F1 qualifying altered for Austin
That means only 18 cars will take to the track this weekend, the lowest entry since the 2005 Monaco Grand Prix, meaning there will be a tweak to the usual qualifying format - as JONATHAN NOBLE reveals:
F1 qualifying altered for Austin
Hello and welcome to AUTOSPORT's live coverage of the first practice session for the United States Grand Prix at Austin.
By: Pablo Elizalde, Jamie Klein, Ben Anderson, AUTOSPORT staff, Glenn Freeman, Matt Beer
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