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Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent in Austin
Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton edged Red Bull’s Max Verstappen as the Formula 1 teams completed final practice before qualifying at the United States Grand Prix.
On this weekend on which Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli has his first chance of clinching his first world title, the fight at the front between Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes appears to be close.
Antonelli will only become the youngest champion in history this weekend if he wins the race with team-mate George Russell lower than eighth and Hamilton lower than fourth.
Antonelli was ranked fifth fastest in final practice but he had a faster lap deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn Nine. Had it counted, he would have been second fastest ahead of Verstappen.
On legitimate times, Hamilton was 0.168 seconds ahead of the Dutchman with the seven-time champion’s team-mate Charles Leclerc third fastest from Russell.
The McLaren drivers were struggling to put a lap together, continuing to find their car difficult to drive. Lando Norris made mistakes on three consecutive laps as he ran this soft tyres towards the end of the session. His best attempt - on his third lap on the tyres - was good enough for fourth but he was also pinged for exceeding track limits at Turn Nine.
The world champion’s team-mate Oscar Piastri was sixth fastest ahead of the Audi of Nico Hulkenberg.
Williams used Friday's first hour of practice as a learning session, trying to understand the limitations of the car for the remainder of the season and also looking ahead to next year.
Both Carlos Sainz and team-mate Alex Albon finished towards the bottom of the timesheets on Friday, with Albon in particular struggling to control his car and going off the track, eventually finishing P22 in second practice.
Spaniard Sainz was honest with his team over the radio, saying his car was a "mess" and he had "no confidence" in it.
Williams have scored only 12 points so far this year and are behind the likes of newcomers Audi in the constructors' championship. “We know that we’re pretty much nowhere to be seen this year and we’re braced for a tough weekend," said Sainz.
"We’ll try to learn as much as possible which might give us some information for the future, but we’re not expecting any miracles going into the weekend."
Charles Leclerc set the pace in yesterday's opening practice sessions at Cota, topping the times ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen in the opening hour and championship leader Kimi Antonelli in the second.
The Ferrari driver was 0.042 seconds quicker than Mercedes' Antonelli in FP2, with Malaysia and Singapore winner Verstappen not too far behind in third place. Lewis Hamilton was fourth fastest, but he was 0.615secs off the pace of his Scuderia team-mate Leclerc.
George Russell, who needs a perfect weekend to keep in touch with Antonelli in the title fight, was fifth, while Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson finished his session above the two McLarens of world champion Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in seventh.
Norris might have more to offer, though, as he failed to set a time on the soft tyre during qualifying runs after making a mistake at Turn 16.
The other Red Bull of Isack Hadjar and Haas' Oliver Bearman completed the top 10 in ninth and 10th respectively. Hadjar was vocal over team radio about the performance of his car, calling it "undriveable" after the session.
The other main talking point yesterday was the dreaded track limits, with plenty of drivers having times deleted throughout each session.
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