2026 UNITED STATES GP

UNITED STATES GP - PRACTICE

MAX VERSTAPPEN

First Practice Session: 1:36.136, Position: 2, Laps: 25

Second Practice Session: 1:35.480, Position: 3, Laps: 24

"It's been a positive start to the weekend. This track is never easy when it comes to finding the right compromise between the low and high-speed corners. The bumps make it even more difficult, so you're trying to find a good balance in the car and get into a rhythm. That's what we've been working on between FP1 and FP2. There's still a bit more work to do to fine-tune that balance, but it wasn't a bad day at all."

ISACK HADJAR

First Practice Session: 1:37.790, Position: 14, Laps: 23

Second Practice Session: 1:36.411, Position: 9, Laps: 24

"We started today well in FP1. The track was as bumpy as expected, but we took some learnings from that. For the second session we then made some changes. They didn't go as we'd hoped, as we struggled on the Soft tyre compared to the Medium. The first sector was good, but after that, we had issues with tyre temperature for the rest of the lap. There are things to improve and work on overnight, particularly with the car balance, which should help. We have Fridays for a reason, so let's push on tomorrow."

PIERRE WACHÉ - TECHNICAL DIRECTOR

"The set-up we are running is less stiff than last year, but the car is still not compliant enough over the bumps, which made today quite challenging as finding the right balance was more difficult than expected. The main challenge this weekend is managing tyre degradation over the long runs while making sure the compromises we make for race pace don't cost us too much in Qualifying. We had a steering issue on Max's car in FP1, which we managed to resolve, and we saw some improvements with the set-up in FP2. There is still work to do on both cars, particularly Isack's, but we are not far away in terms of set-up. With the high-speed corners in Sector 1, pushing the tyres too hard early on can compromise the rest of the lap. We are focused on improving our low-speed performance and, while the race is our priority, we also want to put ourselves in the strongest possible position for Qualifying."