Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton finished the third and final free practice session for the United States Grand Prix at the top of the timesheets, the Ferrari driver setting the pace ahead of Max Verstappen and teammate Charles Leclerc. The result marked a practice win for the Scuderia, with the Mercedes duo of Kimi Antonelli, who could seal their first title this weekend, and George Russell completing the top five positions. It was a relatively quiet start to the session when the green light appeared at 12:30 local time, with Cadillac’s Sergio Pérez, Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto and Alpine’s Franco Colapinto the only three who ventured out; the latter two will carry grid penalties for Sunday’s race, while the Mexican sat out FP1 while Colton Herta got a race for the American team. With Leclerc leading both Friday practices, many eyes were focused on what Ferrari could offer again on the track. although the Monegasque had warned against “high expectations”, since other rivals have more “to unlock”. When the clock reached the 20-minute mark, perhaps the first example of this occurred, as Verstappen shot to the top of the timesheets thanks to a 1m 35.702s lap at the mediums. Antonelli was soon third, behind the McLaren of Oscar Piastri, while early attempts by Lando Norris and Leclerc were eliminated for track limits violations, a theme of the weekend after a whopping 128 laps were eliminated in FP2. Hamilton then sprang into action by usurping Verstappen’s initial benchmark, although the seven-time champion’s effort was on the soft tire compound. Elsewhere, Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg was involved in a pit lane incident with Lance Stroll, as replays showed the Aston Martin man was coming down the fast lane just as the German set off for a practice outing after going sideways. The stewards soon confirmed that the moment would be investigated after the session. As FP3 reached the halfway mark, Leclerc soon got a lap time back on the board and returned to the top of the timesheets with an impressive 1m 35.127s in the mediums, a time that was 0.164s faster than his FP2 effort on Friday. Behind him were Antonelli, Hamilton and Verstappen; the Red Bull man had just come on the radio to complain about his car’s gear changes. More push laps were soon on the agenda as the Mercedes duo lapped the Circuit of the Americas on soft tyres, with Antonelli claiming top spot while Russell placed third behind Leclerc. However, the Italian fell victim to the track limits at Turn 9 and his race engineer, Pete Bonnington, told him: “You were doing very well.” It was soon Verstappen’s turn to return to the top of the standings, before Hamilton became the first to break the 1m 34s when he knocked the Red Bull man down to second place. Leclerc’s subsequent effort saw him marginally edge his teammate into first place once again, but the now familiar track limits message caused that effort to be erased as well, with Leclerc dropping back to third place. The checkered flag soon arrived to close out the final practice session of the weekend, with Hamilton’s 1m34.893s enough to see him quicker and make it a clean practice for the Scuderia. Verstappen’s effort left him second, while Leclerc settled for third after that lap time was eliminated. Mercedes pair Antonelli and Russell took fourth and fifth place, ahead of Piastri’s McLaren and Audi’s Hulkenberg. Norris, who had yesterday explained how difficult it was to drive his MCL40, was eighth, with Alpine’s Pierre Gasly in ninth and Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar in tenth. Racing Bulls pair Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad were next in order (the rookie is the third driver to face a grid penalty on Sunday), while Gabriel Bortoleto, Ollie Bearman, Franco Colapinto and Fernando Alonso moved up to 16th. 19 and 20 respectively. The Cadillacs of Pérez and Valtteri Bottas completed the order in 21st and 22nd place. Once practice is over in Austin, the paddock’s attention will focus on qualifying, which will begin at 4:00 p.m. local time.
