United States – Free Practice 1: Hamilton fired the first shot on Friday

As is customary during certain first free practice sessions, one of the team’s drivers gives up their car to another driver for the duration of the session. This time at COTA, Alfonso Celis Jr took the wheel of Sergio Pérez’s VJM09. After Bahrain, Sochi, the Red Bull Ring, and Monza, this is the 5th time this season that the Mexican driver has participated in the first free practice session. On the Manor side, Jordan King took the wheel of Pascal Wehrlein’s MRT05.

Another “anomaly” of Free Practice 1 was the Halo test by the drivers. During this session, Nico Hülkenberg, Daniil Kvyat, Valtteri Bottas, and Esteban Ocon were equipped with the driver protection system prototype. Meanwhile, Max Verstappen was driving with sensor grids on the sides of his Red Bull, with a particular change of front wing to carry out several measurements.

Due to a lack of on-track action during the first 15 minutes of the session, the cameras were focused on the surrounding areas of the circuit, where a dinosaur was notably spotted.

We had a lizard on track in Singapore…

Now there’s a T. Rex watching #FP1 😂#USGP 🇺🇸 #F1 pic.twitter.com/SS7KGfIZ2L

— Formula 1 (@F1) 21 octobre 2016

The first third of the session was coming to an end and all the drivers managed to set a time after spending a lot of time in the garages. Unsurprisingly, Hamilton and Rosberg are battling for the fastest time, with the advantage going to the Brit with a time of 1’38″943, putting five-tenths over his German teammate. Chasing the Mercedes, the Ferraris of Vettel and Räikkönen are trailing by one second, ahead of Hülkenberg, Massa, Bottas, Sainz, Verstappen, and Ricciardo to complete the top 10. Shortly before the half-hour mark, Jolyon Palmer lost control of his Renault in sector 3, sliding sideways in the asphalt area, with no damage to the RS16. After getting back on track, he had the luxury of blocking Vettel, despite the German’s known tendency to be vocal about drivers not respecting blue flags.

At mid-session, the standings had changed a bit, even though it was now a lull period with only Button and Alonso on the track. In the top 10, Hülkenberg took the 4th time from Räikkönen, and the Red Bull drivers gained a few positions, provisionally ranking 7th and 8th.

PROVISIONAL CLASSIFICATION (45 MINS to go): HAM on top… just three tenths in it between the two title rivals in #FP1 #USGP 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/XaZ6vjhVJP

— Formula 1 (@F1) 21 octobre 2016

On the side of intermediate times, Hamilton held each fastest sector.

FASTEST SECTORS (50 MINS): It’s all @LewisHamilton so far in #FP1. The world champion going strong 💪 #USGP 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/OQmdmnMDxR

— Formula 1 (@F1) 21 octobre 2016

35 minutes before the end of the session, Nico Rosberg completed a fantastic lap on soft tires, improving the best time by 0.958 seconds to 1:37.743 while Hamilton had held it with a lap on super-soft tires. After exiting the pits and preparing for his lap, the British driver went for a lap on soft tires but, due to a braking error at turn 12, he immediately aborted his effort to save his tires.

Verstappen, meanwhile, took the 3rd fastest time. Back on the attack, Lewis Hamilton recaptured the best time by 315 milliseconds, while the other teams were at this point two seconds behind the Mercedes.

At the start of the last half-hour of the session, Daniil Kvyat made a mistake in the double-right at the same spot as Palmer, without consequence but he returned to the pit. Marcus Ericsson experienced an issue with his car as he was exiting the pits, moving slowly in first gear to return to the pits, likely a problem with the engine according to the Swede. Sebastian Vettel, on his side, lost a piece of his right mirror when passing over the kerb at turn 7, providing us with a demonstration of one-handed driving, forced to hold the dangling piece of his still-attached mirror. The virtual safety car was deployed for a marshal to collect the debris stranded on the track.

Seb showing off his skills at driving one handed… hanging on to the wing mirror of his Ferrari #FP1 🇺🇸 #USGP pic.twitter.com/1qwQ9d8Z90

— Formula 1 (@F1) 21 octobre 2016

Unexpected scene a few minutes before the end of the session, the Haas cars positioned at the pit exit remained immobilized, Gutierrez had stalled and Grosjean was forced to cut his engine to preserve the mechanics. What a strange way to make a mark at home by bringing the cars back to the garages even though they had not returned to the track.

At the checkered flag, it’s Hamilton who takes the lead and kicks off the hostilities of this United States Grand Prix, with Nico Rosberg right behind him by three-tenths. Behind them, Verstappen positions himself in front of Räikkönen, Hülkenberg, and Bottas. It’s Ricciardo, Vettel, Kvyat, and Sainz who complete the top 10. In the second half of the standings, we find Massa in 11th place ahead of Nasr, Alonso, Grosjean, and Gutierrez for the top 15. The ranking is completed by Ericsson, Celis Jr, Button, Magnussen, King, Palmer, and Ocon.

Noteworthy are the performances of the Toro Rosso in the top 10 while the McLarens seem to be in trouble.

PROVISIONAL CLASSIFICATION (END OF #FP1)

HAM on top 🎩

HUL in P5 💪

Both Toro Rossos in the top 10 👏#USGP 🇺🇸 #F1 pic.twitter.com/zuZQ6QTBmY

— Formula 1 (@F1) 21 octobre 2016