Max Verstappen was at the front row of the American GP. The Dutch driver, who won the championship in Qatar two weeks ago, is looking for his 50th victory in Formula 1 this weekend and, having seen the performance of the RB19 at the challenging Circuit of the Americas in Austin, it does not seem that he will have difficulty in achieving this success. purpose. Max waited until the last seven minutes of the weekend’s only free practice to put on the soft tire and set the best time (1.35.912); This was his first and only reference before entering the fight for pole this evening (23:00 time).

After Verstappen, Leclerc (Ferrari), Hamilton (Mercedes) and teammate Checo Pérez took the first four places. With a completely revamped Haas, Kevin Magnussen provisionally moved into the top five. Carlos Sainz dropped to eighth after making a mistake in the third sector during the flying lap, but the Scuderia predicted the Spaniard had similar times to Leclerc.

Bad start from Aston Martin

Aston Martin is adding four major updates to its car in the United States. The folks at Silverstone revised the geometry of the ground boundary by installing a longitudinal cut and an outer wing. The diffuser, engine cover and chord airfoil were also changed. Significant changes that should be tested in a single free session. And things started badly for the team.

As soon as they hit the track, the brake cooling system of Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso’s cars overheated and the team had to call both drivers to the pits. The ‘drama’ was greater for Stroll, who missed the remainder of the session, while Alonso lost just fifteen minutes and managed to complete practice without further incident.

In any case, it has not been an ideal start for the Brits, who are focused on improving the AMR23 in this final part of the season, trying to contain McLaren, who are just 11 points behind in the fight for world fourth. Constructors’ Championship.

Certainly Alonso (hard), Norris and Piastri (medium) were the only drivers who did not wear soft tyres, and therefore all three relegated to last place.