Lewis Hamilton topped the timesheets after an encouraging FP3. The seven-time world champion survived a run-in with Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto and a couple of track limit violations to set a time of 1m 34.893s, 0.168s faster than second-place Max Verstappen. Verstappen struggled with his setup throughout free practice and reported issues with his shifts in FP3.
The 2026 United States Grand Prix also marks Tom Hart's first race as Max Verstappen’s engineer. Hart has worked as a performance engineer at Red Bull since 2020 and takes over from the departing Gianpiero Lambiase. He may be in a rich vein of form, but this weekend is likely to be an exercise in adaptation for Max Verstappen.
Charles Leclerc reinforced Ferrari’s pace by going fastest in FP1 and FP2 before securing third in FP3. The Scuderia has brought an aero upgrade to Austin to capitalise on the solid pace shown at the previous race in Singapore.
Kimi Antonelli recovered from a seat issue in FP2 to set the second-fastest time before going fourth-fastest in FP3, just ahead of his teammate. Antonelli comes to Austin on the verge of clinching his maiden world title. Should he win with George Russell ninth or lower, Antonelli will become the youngest ever world champion.
Oscar Piastri finished sixth in the final session, ahead of Nico Hulkenberg, who found himself in an unexpected on-track tussle with Russell and Esteban Ocon in FP3. Lando Norris went eighth fastest ahead of Pierre Gasly and Isack Hadjar. The two RB’s continued their steady progress. Liam Lawson set the 11th-fastest time ahead of Arvid Lindblad, who will incur a five-second time penalty for exceeding his power-unit quota. Gabriel Bortoleto impeded Lewis Hamilton en route to 13th. The Audi driver is set for a 60-place grid penalty having taken on multiple new power unit components.
Ollie Bearman took 14th ahead of Franco Colapinto (who is also expected to receive a grid penalty having taken on a fourth electronics control unit of the season), Fernando Alonso, Ocon, Lance Stroll, Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz. Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas rounded off the field.
Antonelli could be on top of the world by the end of this weekend. However, with Verstappen the inform driver and Ferrari’s upgrades paying dividends, the Mercedes driver is unlikely to have it all his own way going forward.
