United States – Free Practice 1: Hamilton and Mercedes Stay Afloat

The much-anticipated rain this weekend made its appearance during the first free practice session of the United States Grand Prix in Austin.

Sean Gelael takes Brendon Hartley’s place at Toro Rosso for this session just like Lando Norris, future McLaren driver, who replaces Stoffel Vandoorne.

The Texas track is therefore soaked as the drivers set off. Marcus Ericsson and Lando Norris are the first to hit the track on wet tires. Without any significant lap times but with an important confirmation: the track is drying and no heavy rain is expected for the rest of the session.

Enough to give wings to Nico Hülkenberg, who is the first to put on Intermediate tires on his Renault. The German is followed by the two Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo. The latter sets the first fastest time of the session at 1.55.266.

Hulk braving it on intermediate tyres 👀

Well, he is associated with the colour green!#USGP 🇺🇸 #F1 pic.twitter.com/YMeCCacmvN

— Formula 1 (@F1) 19 octobre /f1/actualite/22971-officiel-sergio-perez-reste-chez-force-india-en-2019.html

Hamilton stays in his garage, but his teammate Valtteri Bottas enjoys driving a very stable Mercedes in these conditions. The Finn takes the lead with a time of 1:48.806, followed by the two Red Bulls.

The session is stopped with a red flag after 45 minutes. Charles Leclerc made a mistake, spun, and brought a lot of gravel onto the track, forcing the marshals to clean it up with the extensive use of blower trucks!

A quick off-track excursion for Leclerc… 😯#USGP 🇺🇸 #F1 pic.twitter.com/s1QaKksQ8c

— Formula 1 (@F1) 19 octobre /f1/actualite/22971-officiel-sergio-perez-reste-chez-force-india-en-2019.html

The session resumes for the last 40 minutes and Hamilton can finally measure himself against the clock. After two laps to get a feel for the track and the conditions, the current world championship leader takes the fastest lap, a second and three-tenths ahead of Bottas!

The Ferraris seem to be struggling on this wet track. Kimi Räikkönen and Sebastian Vettel are in 5th and 6th place, but 2.7 seconds behind for the Finn and 3.1 seconds for the German.

However, the track improves progressively to the point that Race Direction decides to authorize DRS for the 20 participants in this session. But few drivers take advantage in the last 20 minutes, apart from the two Ferraris that remain on the track for a long time to try to validate the new developments brought by Scuderia this weekend: a new floor for Räikkönen and new deflectors for Vettel. For now, the car remains nervous, possibly loaded with fuel, but the Ferrari garage does not exude serenity when the engineers see their drivers frequently sliding.

It’s like driving on ice out there, right Kimi? 😉#USGP 🇺🇸 #F1 pic.twitter.com/3bVLEb9m3M

— Formula 1 (@F1) 19 octobre /f1/actualite/22971-officiel-sergio-perez-reste-chez-force-india-en-2019.html

In these rainy conditions, the McLarens are making a mark. Fernando Alonso is 10th and Lando Norris 12th. Admittedly, over three seconds behind, but they are nonetheless ahead of the two Force Indias of Sergio Pérez, 14th, and Esteban Ocon, 16th.

In the surprise department, we find Marcus Ericsson in 9th place, ahead of his teammate Charles Leclerc in 11th. Carlos Sainz’s Renault also astonishes by obtaining the position of “best of the rest” in 7th place.

Some drivers take advantage of the last five minutes to occupy the track like the two Ferraris, Leclerc, Pierre Gasly in the Toro Rosso, Pérez, Ocon, Kevin Magnussen with his Haas, and Gelael, but without improving their times.

The complete FP1 standings:

FP1 CLASSIFICATION (90/90 MINS)

The Mercedes pair lead the way, with the Red Bulls and Ferraris in tow#USGP 🇺🇸 #F1 pic.twitter.com/8reAoUczqR

— Formula 1 (@F1) 19 octobre /f1/actualite/22971-officiel-sergio-perez-reste-chez-force-india-en-2019.html