Lando Norris set the pace in the opening practice session at the Circuit of the Americas but McLaren were denied a one-two by an unexpected driver.

Nico Hulkenberg relegated Oscar Piastri to third place with a rapid final lap, including the fastest run through the middle sector of any driver.

Max Verstappen went quickest with his first run on the soft tyres but immediately lost the top time to Fernando Alonso. The Aston Martin driver ended the session fourth ahead of the reigning world champion.

As Verstappen tried to improve his time, he caught a dramatic switch of oversteer in the high-speed sequence of corners at the beginning of the lap. He told race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase he wanted to pit, but Red Bull advised him to stay out as the session was about to finish and he needed to perform a practice start.

The session was red-flagged briefly when a piece of debris was spotted at the exit of turn 19. It appeared to have come from Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin after he ran wide and rejoined the track.

Soon after the session restarted Williams called Carlos Sainz Jnr into the pits due to a suspected gearbox problem. They quickly began dismantling his FW47 but the team said they expect it will be repaired in time for him to take part in sprint race qualifying later today. His team mate Alexander Albon ended the session sixth.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc also stopped running late in the session. He reported an odour of oil in his cockpit before pitting and being pushed back into the team’s garage.

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Lewis Hamilton led the times on hard tyres early in the session but chose the medium compound for his final run. That left him eighth behind George Russell, who also ran mediums instead of softs at the end of the session.

Isack Hadjar ended the session ninth ahead of the Haas pair, led by Oliver Bearman. His team mate Esteban Ocon had a strange incident at turn 11 when he ran wide into a gravel trap, leaving thick black lines behind him. He reported on his radio one of the brakes had locked solid and returned to the pits.

2025 United States Grand Prix first practice result

P. # Driver Team Model Time Gap
1 4 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes MCL39 1’33.294
2 27 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber-Ferrari C45 1’33.549 0.255
3 81 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes MCL39 1’33.573 0.279
4 14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin-Mercedes AMR25 1’33.639 0.345
5 1 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Honda RBPT RB21 1’33.648 0.354
6 23 Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes FW47 1’33.920 0.626
7 63 George Russell Mercedes W16 1’33.931 0.637
8 44 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari SF-25 1’33.965 0.671
9 6 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls-Honda RBPT 02 1’34.155 0.861
10 87 Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari VF-25 1’34.333 1.039
11 31 Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari VF-25 1’34.368 1.074
12 5 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber-Ferrari C45 1’34.478 1.184
13 22 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull-Honda RBPT RB21 1’34.531 1.237
14 18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Mercedes AMR25 1’34.610 1.316
15 30 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls-Honda RBPT 02 1’34.619 1.325
16 43 Franco Colapinto Alpine-Renault A525 1’34.653 1.359
17 10 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Renault A525 1’34.665 1.371
18 12 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes W16 1’34.737 1.443
19 55 Carlos Sainz Jnr Williams-Mercedes FW47 1’35.874 2.580
20 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari SF-25 1’36.080 2.786

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2025 United States Grand Prix

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