F1 United States GP: Verstappen clears final practice in Austin
22nd October 2022Red Bull’s reigning world champion, Max Verstappen, topped the timing boards in the final practice session of the weekend as the Dutchman cleared the field by 0.320 seconds.
How final practice unfolded…
Following the Pirelli tyre test yesterday, as soon as the pit exit light went green a third of the drivers peeled out of the pit lane and out onto the Austin circuit, Circuit of the Americas.
Alfa Romeo’s Guanyu Zhou and Valtteri Bottas were the first drivers to set a timed lap, but the duo were soon beaten by the likes of Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) and Red Bull’s two drivers: Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, who went P1, P2 and P3 respectively.
As the session closed in on its first 10 minute mark, Haas’ Mick Schumacher suffered a mechanical issue as the young German curled around the Andretti Corner (turn 20). As Schumacher had already driven past the pit entry line the #47 Haas had to nurse his troubled VF-22 around the circuit, in a bid to get it back to the pits.
However, it wasn’t just Schumacher who suffered mechanical issues as McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo reported an issue with his brake pedal with 40 minutes left on the clock. After a quick visit to the garage, the Australian was soon back out on track.
At the half-way point of the session, Perez became the new session leader with a quick 1:36.578 lap, just over one-tenth of a second quicker than Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Verstappen who were second and third respectively.
In the final quarter of the hour, Hamilton looked to be on a cracking lap with a qualifying run. However, after a scrappy couple of corners, the seven-time world champion ran over the kerb at the penultimate kerb and the car snapped from underneath him.
Fortunately, Hamilton was able to wring the cars neck back in and get the car back onto the track.
As the clock ticked down its final moments, the top three stood as; Verstappen (P1), Leclerc (P2) and Sainz (P3), while Hamilton and Perez rounded out fourth and fifth respectively.
That’s it for the article; F1 United States GP: Verstappen clears final practice in Austin! After two – fairly representative – sessions, do you think will secure pole position later on today? Let us know in the comments!
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