Sainz fastest in opening practice for USGP

Carlos Sainz has gone fastest in the opening practice session of the weekend ahead of the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix.

The Ferrari driver headed Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton in the 60-minute session that saw four rookies also on track.

At McLaren, Alex Palou was in for Daniel Ricciardo while at Williams Logan Sargeant replaced Nicholas Latifi.

Theo Pourchaire was in action in place of Valtteri Bottas in the Alfa Romeo Sauber and Robert Shwartzman for Charles Leclerc at Ferrari.

Meanwhile, Antonio Giovinazzi had his second appearance of the year for Haas, though his appearance was not related to the need to run a rookie driver.

It was an unusually busy start with a queue forming at pit exit before the session got underway, all 20 runners on track inside the opening five minutes.

An early spin for Giovinazzi saw the Italian impact the barrier at Turn 6, triggering the red flag as he struggled to get going once again.

He was able to recover the car after a short delay, returning to the pits with damage to the front wing.

It was the end of his session as the team confirmed an overheated clutch will likely result in a gearbox change for the car.

Sergio Perez topped the session with a 1:40.549s under the stoppage, 0.124s clear of Lando Norris in second. Perez had used a set of soft tyres versus the mediums for Norris.

Following the resumption, the Alpine pair moved to the top of the session, Esteban Ocon ahead of Fernando Alonso by 0.7s with a 1:38.810s.

That lasted only until Verstappen set a 1:38.272s after 17 minutes on a set of soft compound tyres.

As he did that, Shwartzman had climbed out of Charles Leclerc’s car as the team worked to make him more comfortable in the cockpit.

He was soon back in the car and out on track, the Israeli-licenced driver sitting 19th fastest, last of those who’d set a lap, with a personal best of 1:44.827s.

Meanwhile, Verstappen had moved the pace on to a 1:37.462s, still on the soft tyres, with Perez sitting second on a 1:38.345s.

Pourchaire was the last driver to complete a timed lap, his first a steady 1:47.954s set at the halfway point of the session.

Attention turned to soft tyre runs thereafter, though Verstappen remained at the top of the timesheets.

That saw Lewis Hamilton improve to second fastest with a 1:37.645s, 0.183s away from the 2022 champion-elect.

With 19 minutes to run, Lance Stroll went quickest on a 1:37.460s on the soft compound tyres.

Sainz went faster still with a 1:36.857s to sit 0.6s clear of the pack, shrinking to 0.475s clear when Hamilton improved on his earlier effort.

Of the rookies, Palou had recorded a best of 1:39.911s, the Spaniard heading Shwartzman, Pourchaire, and Sargeant.

Following his excursion and lack of running thereafter, Giovinazzi found himself at the bottom of the timesheets with just four laps to his name.

Inside the last seven minutes, Verstappen logged a 1:37.081s to reclaim second fastest, 0.224s away from Sainz at the top of the timesheets.

The Ferrari driver ended the session fastest from Verstappen, with Hamilton third best and Stroll fourth.

Shwartzman was the best-placed rookie with a 1:38.951s, though a better lap late in the session was ruined by Verstappen who was caught dawdling on the racing line in the final two corners.

The Ferrari driver was 16th fastest, one spot up on Palou, then came Pourchaire, and Sargeant.

Free Practice 2 follows at 17:00 local time (23:00 BST/09:00 AEDT).

Results: Formula 1 United States Grand Prix, Free Practice 1