Charles Leclerc edged Max Verstappen by 0.084s to set the fastest lap time during the first practice session at the 2026 United States Grand Prix at COTA in Texas on Friday.

A lot of the talk upon arriving at the Circuit of the Americas for round 18 of 23 of the season has been about the possibility of Andrea Kimi Antonelli becoming the youngest-ever drivers’ champion. The Mercedes racer has his first chance to seal the 2026 F1 title in Sunday’s race.

Max Verstappen of Red Bull also helped to fuel the discourse ahead of the United States GP, having hit out at COTA’s “unacceptable” bumps. The circuit in Austin, Texas is known for the bumps caused from the track being built on subsiding ground, which can move year to year.

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Upgrades have also been a major talking point at the United States GP, after Ferrari debuted what is expected to be their final major chassis updates for the SF-26. Audi, Alpine, Cadillac, McLaren, Red Bull and Racing Bulls have also brought smaller upgrades at COTA this week.

Red Bull’s minor front wing revision was not paying off for Verstappen at the start of FP1 at the United States GP this Friday, however. The four-time F1 champion quickly radioed in to report that the steering on his RB22 felt “weird”, and his radio message was received by a different race engineer as Tom Hart is preparing for replacing Gianpiero Lambiase in 2027.

Ferrari’s upgraded floor body, floorboard, sidepod inlet and diffuser quickly paid off at the hands of Charles Leclerc during FP1, in contrast. The Monegasque set the first benchmark lap time with a 1:37.430 after dashing Verstappen’s 1:38.040, but faster laps would follow.

Lewis Hamilton also showed the potential in the SF-26 at COTA, but Leclerc continued to lead Ferrari’s efforts in FP1 as he reduced the benchmark pace to 1:36.761 while still on a set of the medium C3 Pirelli tyres. A change onto a set of the C4 soft Pirelli tyres also then saw Leclerc drop the pace to a 1:36.052, which kept him 0.084s clear of Verstappen’s best lap.

Not everything was going perfectly for Ferrari, though, as Hamilton had a wild ride in the penultimate corner, as understeer took over his SF-26 into Turn 19 and carried the seven-time champion off the road. Fast lap times were also not as easily forthcoming on the soft tyres for Hamilton as they were for Leclerc, as he often lingered half a second off the pace.

The first practice session at COTA was proving to be bleaker for Williams, though, as Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon spent most of FP1 in the garage while the team worked on their cars. Once on circuit, life was not always much better, as Turn 19 threatened to catch Albon out.

Audi racer Nico Hulkenberg also reported that his R26 felt “very weird” in the final corner, and Alpine also needed to carry out work on the rear of Franco Colapinto’s A526 early on. Ultimately, Audi had to end Hulkenberg’s FP1 session early to start investigating his issues.

Full COTA FP1 results at the 2026 F1 United States Grand Prix