Carlos Sainz tops the standings of the first free practice session of the United States Grand Prix.
Formula 1 returned after a week’s break. The United States GP race weekend went underway with FP1 on Friday.
Four rookie drivers took part in the session. Robert Shwartzman, Alex Palou, Theo Pourchaire, and Logan Sargeant drove for Ferrari, McLaren, Alfa Romeo, and Williams respectively. Furthermore, Antonio Giovinazzi was behind the wheel of Kevin Magnussen’s Haas car.
Giovinazzi crashed the car after a spin at turn 6. He was not able to get going at first but later managed to come back to the pits. The session was red-flagged. Later on, it was confirmed that the Italian would not continue the practice.
Sargeant reported loss of grip. Meanwhile, Ferrari were making adjustments to Shwartzman’s seat as he did not feel comfortable in the cockpit.
Palou acknowledged the high level of performance of the MCL36 car, calling it “insane”.
Carlos Sainz lost a small part of the car bodywork while going through the bumps. After a check, he returned to the track.
One of Shwartzman’s flying laps at the end of FP1 was hampered by Max Verstappen on the final sector.
Sainz set the fastest lap of the session. Verstappen was second, while Lewis Hamilton ended FP1 in P3.
