US GP second practice: Track limits go out of the window as Leclerc goes fastest

Charles Leclerc set the fastest time in both the first and second practice sessions. The Monegasque driver edged out Kimi Antonelli by 42 thousandths of a second in a closely fought battle for top spot. Max Verstappen was a little further back this time, putting Red Bull third, almost two tenths off the pace.

If you thought more than 70 track limits infringements in first practice was a lot, race control had even more work to do in the second session. The FIA deleted an incredible 114 lap times. Unless something changes, we could be heading for a repeat of the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix, which fans remember for similar problems and a flood of penalties.

Number of track limits infringements in second practice:
11 – Lando Norris
10 – Isack Hadjar
9 – Alex Albon, Lewis Hamilton
8 – Charles Leclerc
7 – Kimi Antonelli, Oscar Piastri, Ollie Bearman
5 – Gabriel Bortoleto, Carlos Sainz
4 – Fernando Alonso, Franco Colapinto
3 – Pierre Gasly, Lance Stroll, Liam Lawson, Arvid Lindblad
2 – Max Verstappen, Nico Hülkenberg, George Russell
1 – Sergio Pérez, Valtteri Bottas
0 – Esteban Ocon

The final order therefore does not necessarily reflect the cars’ outright performance alone, but also who managed to keep their car within the white lines. Charles Leclerc and Kimi Antonelli did just that and, along with Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto, were the only four drivers to put all their best sectors together in a single lap.

For Ferrari, though, it is too early to celebrate. Ahead of the Austin weekend, Charles Leclerc explained why the Scuderia fares so much better against its rivals on Fridays than on Saturdays: its rivals have more power available in qualifying, while the Italian team’s exemplary preparation means it arrives at the circuit in excellent shape. The others fine-tune their set-ups primarily overnight from Friday to Saturday and find more time than Ferrari, which has less room for improvement.

Perhaps the new upgrade package Ferrari has brought to Austin will change that. Only Charles Leclerc had it fitted to his car in first practice, but Lewis Hamilton also tried it in the second half of Friday’s running. So far, though, it has not quite come together; Hamilton was six tenths of a second off the pace.

There is a similar gap between the Mercedes drivers. In George Russell’s defence, his qualifying simulation did not go to plan. The car snapped out of line through the Esses, so his final time cannot be considered a true reflection of his performance.

Lando Norris could also have been much quicker had he managed to complete the lap after two strong opening sectors, Zak Brown noted towards the end of second practice. Oscar Piastri is struggling a little more with his qualifying pace.

During the session, Isack Hadjar complained of a “terrible car” as well as high tyre degradation. The latter is likely to be decisive on Sunday. Several drivers struggled with their tyres during the race simulations, including Lewis Hamilton. Over his team radio, we heard that tyre issues were among the reasons he was struggling to keep the car on the track.