Verstappen and Hamilton split by Ferrari in close United States GP practice

Jay Winter
Friday 20 October 2023 21:31 - Updated: 21:59

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen has put his stamp on the United States Grand Prix early on in the race weekend, setting the fastest time in FP1 on Friday.

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was close behind him in second whilst Mercedes star Lewis Hamilton wrapped up the top three.

Lewis Hamilton was ahead of the Dutchman whilst on the long runs with hard tyres.

Drivers were hampered by the severe bumps scattered all over the track which caused the teams to bounce around the circuit.

Aston Martin had a nightmare start to their Grand Prix weekend as both cars struggled from overheating front left brake disks, meaning the AMR23s were stuck in the garage for the majority of the session.

READ MORE: F1 United States Grand Prix weather forecast

Track limits proved to be an issue for the drivers as they attempted to stay within the white lines at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.

Here are all the times:

F1 Circuit of the Americas FP1 Results: United States Grand Prix 2023

US Grand Prix FP1 practice results - Friday October 20th

1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull): 1:35.912s

2. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari): +0.156s

3. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes): +0.281s

4. Sergio Perez (Red Bull): +0.300s

5. Kevin Magnussen (Haas): +0.560s

6. George Russell (Mercedes): +0.562s

7. Alex Albon (Williams): +0.580s

8. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari): +0.621s

9. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas): +0.790s

10. Pierre Gasly (Alpine): +0.793s

11. Logan Sargeant (Williams): +1.075s

12. Esteban Ocon (Alpine): +1.154s

13. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri): +1.192s

14. Daniel Ricciardo (AlphaTauri): +1.240s

15. Lando Norris (McLaren): +1.344s

16. Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo): +1.506s

17. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo): +1.605s

18. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin): +1.928s

19. Oscar Piastri (McLaren): +2.508s

20. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin): +4.028s

How does F1 Qualifying work?

The 60-minute qualifying session is split into three finite windows which provides a dramatic prelude to Sunday's big race.

The bottom five drivers are eliminated at the end of Q1, with a further five eliminated after Q2.

Then Q3 gives us a shootout between the remaining 10 drivers in the battle for positions at the front of the grid.

READ MORE: F1 Qualifying: United States Grand Prix start time and TV channel