McLaren title contender Lando Norris went quickest in the only practice session for this weekend’s 2025 FIA Formula 1 United States Grand Prix ahead of with Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and championship leader Oscar Piastri. There were mechanical issues for Charles Leclerc, however, with the Ferrari driver ended the session in last place. 

Ahead of Sprint qualifying the single practice session in Austin was busy throughout and in the early stages it was Leclerc’s team-mate Lewis Hamilton who led the way. The seven-time champion posted a lap of 1:34.857 to sit 0.569s clear of Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen.

However, not long after the Briton took top spot, the session was red flagged when a piece of debris from Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin was left on the edge of the track. 

The halt was brief and with a few minutes to go until the halfway point the session got underway once again with teams continuing their running on the C1 Hard compound tyres. 

The choice of rubber changed in the final quarter with Hamilton, Leclerc and George Russell bolting on Medium C3 tyres while Verstappen and Red Bull team-mate Yuki Tsunoda, and the McLarens, opted for Softs.

Russell and Red Bull's Yuki Tsunoda and Verstappen all took a turn at the top of the order but then Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso jumped to P1 with a Soft tyre time of 1:33.639 the moved him 0.009s ahead of Verstappen. Norris was on track, however, and he went three tenths clear of the Spaniard to take P1 with a lap of 1:33.294. 

Piastri found a late improvement to jump from fifth to second, just under three tenths behind his McLaren team-mate, but the Australian was bumped back to P3 by Hülkenberg who moved into the top three in the final moments of the session. 

Leclerc missed out on his qualifying simulation, however. The Ferrari driver reported trouble with seventh gear and a smell of oil in his Ferrari F-25 and he was called back to the pits to sit out the remainder of the session. 

2025 FIA Formula 1 United States Grand Prix – Free Practice
1 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:33.294 23 212.733
2 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 1:33.549 0.255 24 212.154
3 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:33.573 0.279 26 212.099
4 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:33.639 0.345 23 211.950
5 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:33.648 0.354 26 211.929
6 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:33.920 0.626 27 211.316
7 George Russell Mercedes 1:33.931 0.637 27 211.291
8 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:33.965 0.671 25 211.214
9 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:34.155 0.861 25 210.788
10 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 1:34.333 1.039 27 210.390
11 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 1:34.368 1.074 26 210.312
12 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 1:34.478 1.184 24 210.067
13 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:34.531 1.237 24 209.950
14 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:34.610 1.316 23 209.774
15 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:34.619 1.325 25 209.754
16 Franco Colapinto Alpine/Renault 1:34.653 1.359 25 209.679
17 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:34.665 1.371 24 209.652
18 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:34.737 1.443 27 209.493
19 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 1:35.874 2.580 9 207.009
20 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:36.080 2.786 18 206.565