FP1: Hamilton more than a second clear in wet practice

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F1 Grand Prix, GP USA, Circuit of The Americasus

After heavy rain soaked the Circuit of the Americas overnight, it was a wet circuit that greeted the Formula One drivers for the first practice session of the race weekend. With the fastest times set on intermediates, Hamilton was easily fastest by more than a second.

The 6 laps that Hamilton did were enough to have a comfortable margin over Mercedes team mate Valtteri Bottas. The latter was 1.3s down, but still second fastest.

Both Red Bulls were reasonably close in third and fourth, ahead of the Ferrari duo led by Sebastian Vettel. Carlos Sainz ended up 7th, ahead of Grosjean and Sauber's Leclerc and Ericsson as they completed the top 10.

After most drivers - notably neither Red Bull did - completed exploratory laps on full wet tyres, it was Nico Hulkenberg who was the first to switch to intermediates. It was by then clear this was the better tyre for the conditions, making sure the full wet wasn't seen again during the remaining 78 minutes.

The wet track made sure numerous drivers ended up off the circuit one time or another, but it was only Leclerc who caused a red flag situation. No damage was done to his car though, but the gravel he had kicked up onto the circuit prevented action for the next 11 minutes.

Conditions are expected to be the same in FP2 and for Saturday, with sunny conditions on target for Sunday's race.

Results

Pos.No.DriverCarTimeGapLaps
144Lewis HamiltonMercedes1:47.502-6
277Valtteri BottasMercedes1:48.806+1.304s7
333Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing Tag Heuer1:48.847+1.345s9
43Daniel RicciardoRed Bull Racing Tag Heuer1:49.326+1.824s9
55Sebastian VettelFerrari1:49.489+1.987s18
67Kimi RäikkönenFerrari1:49.928+2.426s20
755Carlos SainzRenault1:50.665+3.163s8
88Romain GrosjeanHaas Ferrari1:50.821+3.319s10
916Charles LeclercSauber Ferrari1:50.961+3.459s14
109Marcus EricssonSauber Ferrari1:51.016+3.514s14
1114Fernando AlonsoMcLaren Renault1:51.036+3.534s9
1247Lando NorrisMcLaren Renault1:51.232+3.730s9
1310Pierre GaslyScuderia Toro Rosso Honda1:51.234+3.732s19
1411Sergio PerezForce India Mercedes1:51.459+3.957s18
1535Sergey SirotkinWilliams Mercedes1:51.589+4.087s14
1620Kevin MagnussenHaas Ferrari1:51.614+4.112s15
1731Esteban OconForce India Mercedes1:51.655+4.153s17
1827Nico HulkenbergRenault1:51.717+4.215s7
1918Lance StrollWilliams Mercedes1:51.896+4.394s14
2038Sean GelaelScuderia Toro Rosso Honda1:52.625+5.123s21