Austin. The Mexican pilot Sergio Czech Pérez, from the Red Bull team, finished in a worrying sixteenth place this Friday in the only free practice session of the United States Formula 1 Grand Prix, while the Spanish Carlos Sainz set the best time, followed by his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc.
Sainz set a fastest lap of one minute and 33.602 seconds, beating Monegasque Leclerc by 0.021 at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.
The Dutchman Max Verstappen (Red Bull), World Championship leader, was third at a distance of 0.253.
The British Lando Norris (McLaren), Verstappen’s great rival for the championship, had the fourth best time at 0.266, followed by his teammate, the Australian Oscar Piastri, at 0.306.
The veteran Spanish driver Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) occupied ninth position (0.510), while Czech Pérez finished in 16th place (1,036).
The young Argentine driver Franco Colapinto (Williams-Mercedes) managed to set the fifth best time in the last minutes of the session, but ended up falling to nineteenth and penultimate place (1,646).
Verstappen, who has not reached the top of the podium since the Spanish Grand Prix in June, hopes to end a streak of eight races without a win this Sunday.
In this way he would maintain a safe distance from Norris, who has gotten closer to 52 points in the race for the title with six races to go.
The United States Grand Prix only had one free practice session before the drivers compete this Friday, starting at 3:30 p.m., for qualification for Saturday’s sprint race.
After that test, classification will be held to determine the starting grid for Sunday’s Grand Prix.
For the final marathon of six races in eight weeks, most teams have made a number of improvements to their cars, including Red Bull, which is looking to close the gap on McLaren at the top of the constructors’ championship.
Results of free trials
Carlos Sainz Jr (ESP/Ferrari) 1:33.602 (25 laps)
Charles Leclerc (MON/Ferrari) 1:33.623 (27)
Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull) 1:33.855 (23)
Lando Norris (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes) 1:33.868 (25)
Oscar Piastri (AUS/McLaren-Mercedes) 1:33.908 (26)
Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes) 1:33.963 (22)
George Russell (GBR/Mercedes) 1:34.093 (27)
Kevin Magnussen (DEN/Haas-Ferrari) 1:34.096 (24)
Fernando Alonso (ESP/Aston Martin-Mercedes) 1:34.112 (24)
Yuki Tsunoda (JPN/Racing Bulls-Red Bull) 1:34.313 (20)
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#Checo #Pérez #finishes #16th #place #test
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