Verstappen, the fastest before qualifying
MADRID, 20 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish Formula 1 driver Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) turned around a free practice session in Austin that did not look good at the beginning, due to a brake heating problem, to end up riding competitively with a hard tire, while world champion Max Verstappen (Red Bull) was the fastest.
The AMR23 arrived with many changes and, a priori, improvements for the United States Grand Prix. The free practice sessions, very necessary to obtain information a few hours before the fight for the grid on Sunday, were complicated for the Aston Martins with the lack of cooling in the left front tire.
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Alonso’s car caught fire and both the Spaniard and Lance Stroll went to the pits in search of solutions. The Canadian ran out of free practice but the double world champion got back to riding and did so successfully, sixth at times until finishing 18th, but without putting on soft tires like the rest did in the final stretch.
With the sprint format again in Austin, the free practice sessions were again of little use, with questions regarding the classification ahead, and then thinking about the sprint on Saturday. What again left no doubt was the first position of Verstappen, who achieved the best time with the soft tires (1:35.912).
The Dutchman won his third title two weeks ago in Qatar, but he is still thinking about adding to his record-breaking season. In second position came the Monegasque Charles Leclerc, less than two tenths behind, who performed better than his Ferrari teammate, the Spanish Carlos Sainz. The Madrid native finished eighth, suffering from the bumps in Austin and the traditional grip problem in his car.
With hard tires it was Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) who led for much of the session, finally third, ahead of Sergio Pérez (Red Bull), Kevin Magnussen (Haas) and George Russell (Mercedes). The negative surprise was that of McLaren, who arrives as Red Bull’s biggest rival although the important thing is yet to come, with Lando Norris 15th and Oscar Piastri, 19th.