F1 United States GP: Sainz heads Verstappen in first practice
Carlos Sainz pipped Formula 1 rivals Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton in a red-flagged first practice ahead of the 2022 United States Grand Prix as five teams fielded replacement drivers.
Despite two attempts running with a fresh set of the quickest soft tyres late into the hour at the Austin track, two-time champion Verstappen was unable to depose the Ferrari of Sainz.
That left the Spaniard to sit pretty by 0.22 seconds as Scuderia team-mate Charles Leclerc did not contest the session to make room for F1 rookie and 2019 FIA F3 champion Robert Shwartzman.
Meanwhile, Hamilton guided the Mercedes W13 with its final major update package of the season to third ahead of Lance Stroll, who headed a competitive showing for Aston Martin.
The Astons and AlphaTauris kicked off the running, with Sebastian Vettel laying down the early marker at 1m42.625s as the initial laps were split between all three tyre compounds.
Esteban Ocon was the fastest driver on the yellow-walled C3 mediums while Sainz signalled his intentions with a 1m41.381s on the C4 softs before being toppled by Sergio Perez - who carries a five-place grid drop for taking on his fifth internal combustion engine of the year.
However, the early running was interrupted by a shunt for ex-Alfa Romeo driver Antonio Giovanazzi, who brought out the red flags after only seven minutes when he bashed the Haas into the TecPro barriers on his second flying lap while deputising for Kevin Magnussen.
Through the high-speed left-right change of direction through Turns 5 and 6, the Italian lost the rear end and spun backwards across the track before glancing the wall. He eventually lurched the car free and brought the VF-22 with its damaged front wing back to the garage.
Antonio Giovinazzi, Haas F1 Team
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
An overheated clutch and likely gearbox change meant Giovinazzi could not take part in the rest of the session - all as Haas continues to evaluate a team-mate to Magnussen for 2023.
After the four-minute interlude, Verstappen stuck to form in 2022 by setting the timing screens alight with his first lap as he guided his soft-shod Red Bull RB18 round in 1m38.272s.
Sainz fired back with a 1m37.462s at the halfway point of the session before Verstappen again came to fore until much of the field returned to the pits to create a lull.
Vettel did use that time effectively to split the leading pair in second place as Sainz stopped for a damage assessment after shedding bodywork when he clipped the kerbs in sector one.
With the final third of the hour approaching, Hamilton closed the W13 - featuring revised front and rear wings plus a tweaked floor - to within 0.2s of Verstappen.
But with 16 minutes to go, Sainz went fastest for the final time as he lapped the F1-75 in 1m36.867s to top the session by two tenths over Verstappen, with Hamilton ending on a 1m37.332s.
Stroll, who had been particularly strong in the second sector to top the session briefly with 20 minutes to run, was shuffled to fourth but kept the Red Bull of Perez at bay - the Mexican 0.4s down on Verstappen.
Fernando Alonso, who held on to a massive slide out of the final corner, led Alpine in sixth over George Russell, Pierre Gasly and Lando Norris.
Vettel completed the top 10 ahead of Ocon, Zhou Guanyu and Alex Albon - the Williams driver struggling against considerable understeer in the first part of the lap.
Yuki Tsunoda ran to 14th ahead of Mick Schumacher and fastest rookie Shwartzman, who clocked 16th ahead of Alex Palou.
The 2021 IndyCar champion swapped for Daniel Ricciardo at McLaren but was limited to long runs on medium tyres and never bolted on a set of softs.
Sauber hot-shot Theo Pourchaire was 18th over Logan Sargeant, the American replacing Nicholas Latifi in the Williams for his home race as Giovinazzi propped up the order.
FP1 result:
| Cla | Driver | Chassis | Laps | Time | Gap | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Carlos Sainz |
 |
Ferrari | 19 | 1'36.857 | |
| 2 |  Max Verstappen |
 |
Red Bull | 15 | 1'37.081 | 0.224 |
| 3 |  Lewis Hamilton |
 |
Mercedes | 20 | 1'37.332 | 0.475 |
| 4 |  Lance Stroll |
 |
Aston Martin | 23 | 1'37.460 | 0.603 |
| 5 |  Sergio Perez |
 |
Red Bull | 19 | 1'37.515 | 0.658 |
| 6 | Fernando Alonso |
 |
Alpine | 25 | 1'37.713 | 0.856 |
| 7 | George Russell |
 |
Mercedes | 23 | 1'37.802 | 0.945 |
| 8 |  Pierre Gasly |
 |
AlphaTauri | 24 | 1'37.810 | 0.953 |
| 9 | Lando Norris |
 |
McLaren | 23 | 1'37.856 | 0.999 |
| 10 |  Sebastian Vettel |
 |
Aston Martin | 25 | 1'38.041 | 1.184 |
| 11 | Esteban Ocon |
|
Alpine | 24 | 1'38.102 | 1.245 |
| 12 |  Zhou Guanyu |
 |
Alfa Romeo | 21 | 1'38.276 | 1.419 |
| 13 |  Alex Albon |
 |
Williams | 21 | 1'38.422 | 1.565 |
| 14 |  Yuki Tsunoda |
 |
AlphaTauri | 23 | 1'38.898 | 2.041 |
| 15 | Mick Schumacher |
 |
Haas | 20 | 1'38.922 | 2.065 |
| 16 |  Robert Shwartzman |
 |
Ferrari | 21 | 1'38.951 | 2.094 |
| 17 | Alex Palou |
|
McLaren | 21 | 1'39.911 | 3.054 |
| 18 | Theo Pourchaire |
 |
Alfa Romeo | 19 | 1'40.175 | 3.318 |
| 19 |  Logan Sargeant |
 |
Williams | 23 | 1'40.325 | 3.468 |
| 20 |  Antonio Giovinazzi |
 |
Haas | 4 | 1'43.063 | 6.206 |
| View full results | ||||||
Perez and Zhou to receive F1 US GP grid drops after engine changes
F1 team bosses meet Brad Pitt as film project takes off
Ranking the worst Formula 1 cars to win a grand prix
Cars that rarely looked like contenders for victory have occasionally slipped through the net to become winners of world championship Formula 1 races. But which was the worst of the bunch?
Schumacher radio criticism highlighted F1 privacy change for Russell
George Russell says that the way an off-the-cuff radio remark criticising Mick Schumacher last year became a big deal shows how he is more under the spotlight in Formula 1.
Newgarden impressed by Chevrolet on IndyCar's new renewable fuel
Two-time IndyCar champion Josef Newgarden says he’s been impressed with the drivability of his Chevrolet engine following the switch to renewable fuel and has seen no loss in performance.
Alesi: “Politics” not F1 to blame for French GP exit
New Paul Ricard track president Jean Alesi says he’ll lobby France's president Emmanuel Macron to regain the French Grand Prix, and believes Formula 1 isn’t to blame for its exit.
How Tyrrell became a racing Rubik’s cube as it faded out of F1
Formula 1’s transformation into a global sport meant the gradual extinction for a small team determined to stay true to its low-budget roots. But Tyrrell would eventually be reborn as a world-beating outfit again, explains MAURICE HAMILTON, albeit in different colours…
Assessing Hamilton's remarkable decade as a Mercedes F1 driver
Many doubted Lewis Hamilton’s move from McLaren to Mercedes for the 2013 Formula 1 season. But the journey he’s been on since has taken the Briton to new heights - and to a further six world championship titles
Why new look Haas is a litmus test for Formula 1’s new era
OPINION: With teams outside the top three having struggled in Formula 1 in recent seasons, the rules changes introduced in 2022 should have more of an impact this season. How well Haas does, as the poster child for the kind of team that F1 wanted to be able to challenge at the front, is crucial
The Mercedes F1 pressure changes under 10 years of Toto Wolff
OPINION: Although the central building blocks for Mercedes’ recent, long-lasting Formula 1 success were installed before he joined the team, Toto Wolff has been instrumental in ensuring it maximised its finally-realised potential after years of underachievement. The 10-year anniversary of Wolff joining Mercedes marks the perfect time to assess his work
The all-French F1 partnership that Ocon and Gasly hope to emulate
Alpine’s signing of Pierre Gasly alongside Esteban Ocon revives memories of a famous all-French line-up, albeit in the red of Ferrari, for BEN EDWARDS. Can the former AlphaTauri man's arrival help the French team on its path back to winning ways in a tribute act to the Prancing Horse's title-winning 1983?
How do the best races of F1 2022 stack up to 2021?
OPINION: A system to score all the grands prix from the past two seasons produces some interesting results and sets a standard that 2023 should surely exceed
Who were the fastest drivers in F1 2022?
Who was the fastest driver in 2022? Everyone has an opinion, but what does the stopwatch say? Obviously, differing car performance has an effect on ultimate laptime – but it’s the relative speed of each car/driver package that’s fascinating and enlightening says ALEX KALINAUCKAS
Why F1's nearly man is refreshed and ready for his return
He has more starts without a podium than anyone else in Formula 1 world championship history, but Nico Hulkenberg is back for one more shot with Haas. After spending three years on the sidelines, the revitalised German is aiming to prove to his new team what the F1 grid has been missing
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.