2024 US Grand Prix – Free Practice 1 F1 results (COTA)

Thomas Maher 18 Oct 2024 7:40 PM

Carlos Sainz, Ferrari, 2024 United States Grand Prix.

Carlos Sainz went quickest in first practice for the 2024 United States Grand Prix.

Here are the full results from the first and only practice session ahead of the United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas.

Carlos Sainz and Ferrari set the fastest times of the 60-minute first practice session at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin.

Ferrari claim 1-2 in practice session in Austin

With the US Grand Prix being one of the Sprint race weekends scheduled in F1 2024, Friday’s first practice session at the Circuit of the Americas represented the one and only chance for the 20 drivers to get their cars set up for the Sprint qualifying and race as parc fermé conditions kick in at the start of the Friday evening qualifying session.

With upgrades galore up and down the grid, and limited time to get them fettled in, there was plenty of laps put in as the drivers pounded around under overcast skies in Austin.

At the halfway point of the session, it was a Ferrari 1-2 with Charles Leclerc ahead of Carlos Sainz, with the early laps seeing some dramatic spins on the bumps – despite the resurfaced circuit.

Lewis Hamilton was a particularly dramatic spinner as he lost control on a bump through the high-speed esses, but managed to avoid hitting anything as he recovered his W15 before returning to the pits for precautionary checks.

Armed with the soft tyres, the Red Bulls moved to the top as Max Verstappen went quickest ahead of Sergio Perez, but these times were set quite early for the qualifying simulations as rivals left it until the closing minutes of the session to put in their quick laps.

Carlos Sainz took over at the front for Ferrari with six minutes to go, a quarter of a second clear of Verstappen, and the Spaniard remained unchallenged at the top until the end of the session as Charles Leclerc slotted into second.

The Ferrari 1-2 was closely followed by Verstappen, with Lando Norris vaulting up the order in the final minute to go fourth-quickest in a McLaren covered in flow-viz paint to get a good understanding of the car’s raft of updates.

Oscar Piastri was fifth in the second McLaren, having had a wayward moment entering the pitlane which saw him having to abort his attempt to pit and head around for another lap.

Lewis Hamilton finished sixth, ahead of George Russell, with Haas’ Kevin Magnussen eighth amidst a strong start to the weekend for the American squad. Fernando Alonso was ninth for Aston Martin, with Yuki Tsunoda 10th for VCARB.

FULL REPORT: US GP: Ferrari top FP1 from Max Verstappen amid Red Bull bib drama