© Getty ImagesFree Practice – United States Grand Prix 2021We’re up and running in Texas for round 17 of the season.
Howdy!AndwelcometoAustinforthe2021UnitedStatesGrandPrixattheCircuitOfAmericasandafterayear’sabsencethere’sabuzzaroundFormulaOnereturningtothisamazingtrack.
Due to the COVID-19 global pandemic the paddock didn’t visit America in 2020, but the Hermann Tilke-designed track is back this weekend and it’s been a place the team has enjoyed visiting over the years. In our previous two outings here, Max has found himself on the podium in 2nd in 2018 and 3rd in 2019.
Going Full Send In The US© Getty Images
The track is said to have taken the best parts from some of the world’s greatest circuits, such as Maggotts/Becketts from Silverstone, the S Curves from Suzuka and turns 12-15 are reminiscent of Hockenheim. And turn one creates some great overtaking opportunities.
The 2021 running of the race features 56 laps of the 5.513km circuit creating a total race distance of 308.405 km. The current lap record was set by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in 2019 with a time of 1:36.169.
The Bulls hit the track on a hot Friday morning for Free Practice One. The session was only three minutes old before Fernando Alonso’s Alpine stopped on track causing the red flags to come out. This lost almost ten minutes of track time, but it didn’t hinder the Team too much.
Max finished P3 on the timesheet after 16 laps with a best time of 1.35.806. Checo found himself four places behind his teammate in P7, with a best time of 1.36.798 after completing 20 laps.
Friday afternoon’s Free Practice Two saw both Bulls out on track as soon as the session went live, and both entered the track on medium tyres. 30 minutes into the session, both entered the pits and stuck on some soft tyres.
That’s when Checo set the fastest time of everyone in the session and ended his Friday in P1 with a time of 1:34.946, 0.257s ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris in P2. In total Checo completed 24 laps. Max was hindered by traffic in his session, and he finished P8 with a best time of 1:35.824 after a total of 23 laps.
The Bulls took their time to join Saturday’s opening session – Free Practice Three – choosing to wait in the garage. Checo hit the track with 15 minutes gone and was on fine form from the start. He topped the session timesheet in P1 with a time of 1:34.701 after completing 13 laps. Max posted a best time of 1:34.912 after 13 laps and that saw him in P3. The Bulls were split by Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.
United States Grand Prix 2021: Free Practice
Observing The Bulls On Track© Getty Images
Seeing Double At COTA© Getty Images
Sweeping Past The Stunning Corners At COTA© Getty Images
Checo Getting The Hard Laps In© Getty Images
Acura Returns To F1 In Over A Decade© Getty Images
Right On The Edge Of The Apex© Getty Images
| Position | Driver | Team | Time | | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Valtteri Bottas | Lewis Hamilton | Max Verstappen | Charles Leclerc | Carlos Sainz | Pierre Gasly | Sergio Pérez | Lando Norris | Antonio Giovinazzi | Kimi Räikkönen |
| Mercedes | Mercedes | Red Bull Racing Honda | Ferrari | Ferrari | AlphaTauri | Red Bull Racing Honda | McLaren | Alfa Romeo Racing | Alfa Romeo Racing |
| 1.34.874 | 1.34.919 | 1.35.806 | 1.36.334 | 1.36.508 | 1.36.611 | 1.36.798 | 1.36.855 | 1.36.874 | 1.36.876 |
| Position | Driver | Team | Time | | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Sergio Pérez | Lando Norris | Lewis Hamilton | Valtteri Bottas | Daniel Ricciardo | Lance Stroll | Charles Leclerc | Max Verstappen | Carlos Sainz | Antonio Giovinazzi |
| Red Bull Racing Honda | McLaren | Mercedes | Mercedes | McLaren | Aston Martin | Ferrari | Red Bull Racing Honda | Ferrari | Alfa Romeo Racing |
| 1.34.946 | 1.35.203 | 1.35.310 | 1.35.360 | 1.35.457 | 1.35.561 | 1.35.572 | 1.35.824 | 1.35.919 | 1.36.138 |
| Position | Driver | Team | Time | | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Sergio Pérez | Carlos Sainz | Max Verstappen | Lando Norris | Valtteri Bottas | Daniel Ricciardo | Pierre Gasly | Lewis Hamilton | Charles Leclerc | Esteban Ocon |
| Red Bull Racing Honda | Ferrari | Red Bull Racing Honda | McLaren | Mercedes | McLaren | AlphaTauri | Mercedes | Ferrari | Alpine |
| 1.34.701 | 1.34.805 | 1.34.912 | 1.34.945 | 1.34.988 | 1.35.219 | 1.35.345 | 1.35.398 | 1.35.688 | 1.35.711 |
Checo Sets Eyes On COTA© Getty Images
"Mercedes were certainly very strong so let’s see what they have when it counts. I think we have to find a couple of tenths and put everything together to be in the mix for pole. There’s a lot to be done now with the engineers to try and improve the car, I think there is some margin to improve our long run pace and our tyre degradation, but all in all it was a positive Friday.”
Max Ready To Extend Championship© Getty Images
Overall it wasn’t easy out there today.
"The track is quite bumpy and to find the right compromise on the car hasn’t been the easiest but there are a few positive things to look at and we’ll continue to work on that overnight. In FP2, we didn’t manage to put the lap in on the soft tyre and it was also just a bit of a mess with the traffic. Hopefully everything will come together tomorrow so we can get a good lap in qualifying.”
