2026 Formula 1 United States GP
F1 United States GP: Follow FP1 at Austin with live timing
Follow along for updates from Formula 1's FP1 session at the Circuit of the Americas
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Antonelli posts a time good enough for fifth as Mercedes continues to explore its updates, but it's a) just 0.001s clear of Russell and b) a second off Hamilton's current benchmark.
Leclerc's going again on the medium, as Ferrari is demonstrating good early pace. It's a 1m36.761s for the Monegasque.
Piastri gets up to third with his latest effort.
Lawson goes quickest with a 1m38.631s, before Verstappen finds half a second. Leclerc then moves to the top with a 1m37.430s.
The times then continue to tumble, although Norris doesn't deliver on a pair of purple sectors and goes second.
Hamilton then swings the car around the final two corners, and grabs a 1m37.235s.
Verstappen posts a 1m39.431s to go top on the hard tyre, although Leclerc then puts in a 1m39.152s on the mediums.
Russell then posts a 1m39.301s, but Norris gets to the top with a 1m38.715s. Hamilton moves up to second.
"The steering wheel feels weird, when I turn left there's friction. It's not linear." Verstappen reports to Tom Hart, who is stepping in as his race engineer in preparation for 2027.
Everyone on track, nice and early. A spread of medium and hard tyres, as Verstappen opens a lap on the latter. Pirelli has brought the C2, C3, and C4 this weekend.
FP1 begins
A big aero rake on the Audi and the Cadillac to measure the pressure field around the car, as they look to understand some updates.
We're underway at Austin, Colapinto on-track first.
Weather watch
It's 27C out there today, 40C track temperature, so it's a warm and sunny day. We'll leave the Fahrenheit conversion to you, because I believe in measurements that scale directly with SI units.
300.15 Kelvin, if you were interested.
Herta in for Perez
At Cadillac, Colton Herta will take Sergio Perez's seat for FP1 - the only rookie-driver change for this session.
Cadillac also has a special livery for its first visit to Texas. Yee, and I cannot stress this enough, haw.
Non-F1 news: IndyCar to race at Barcelona in 2027
The IndyCar Grand Prix of Barcelona is scheduled for 18 July 2027, at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, meaning that IndyCar breaks out of North America for the first time since 2013. If we wrap ChampCar into this, it's the first time since 2007 that the US' premier open-wheel series has raced in Europe.
This ensures five-time champion Alex Palou will have a home race.
FIA to test new low-power setting in FP1
A statement from the FIA:
"As part of the ongoing refinements to the Power Unit software for low grip mode, the FIA together with the teams and Power Unit manufacturers will run a simulation at the end of FP1, with cars running on low grip mode, using specific driver inputs during the in-lap to test additional software protections. This will mean that cars will be running for a short distance at low speed at Turn 15 at the end of the session."
This is the next step on from the FIA's hastily assembled fix to the low power setting issues experienced during the Malaysia weekend.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, George Russell, Mercedes
Photo by: Alex Bierens de Haan / LAT Images via Getty Images
Renault sells Viry-Chatillon engine facility
After canning its F1 powertrain project to allow Alpine to switch to Mercedes, Renault has now sold off its Viry-Chatillon facilities to Belgian company Dumarey Group. Post-F1, Viry was used to assemble the Mecachrome-designed engines used in its A424 hypercar.
In short, this effectively means that Renault is unlikely to ever return to making F1 engines, having used Viry as its base for several decades.
Renault to sell former F1 engine facility in Viry
Renault has secured a buyer for its Viry factory after curtailing its F1 engine programme
FP1 at Austin: coming up!
Hello everyone, and welcome to our live coverage of this weekend's US Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas! It's almost time to get the ball rolling on the first session of the weekend, as the drivers reacquaint themselves with a bumpy circuit - and one that seems to become significantly more bumpy every year.
Everything's bigger in Texas - apparently, this includes spinal pain and headaches...
General view
Photo by: Sona Maleterova / Getty Images
