Max Verstappen clocked seventh time in the second free practice session for the United States Grand Prix on Friday. The Austin training lasted half an hour longer, because tire supplier Pirelli was given the chance to have the tires tested before 2023. The lap times therefore say nothing about the proportions on the Circuit of The Americas.
Drivers and teams were given sets of tires without markings, so they didn’t know for themselves which rubber compounds they were riding. In this way Pirelli ensures that teams cannot obtain specific information about certain tyres. This tire test was supposed to take place in Japan two weeks ago, but the training literally fell into the water there.
It made the second workout much less relevant than usual. Only Charles Leclerc, Valtteri Bottas and Daniel Ricciardo also drove some laps on the tires used in the race this weekend. This trio did not play in the first training session, because they had to give their car to debutants.
Leclerc was thus the fastest with a 1.36.810, driven on the medium tires. Bottas was 0.7 seconds slower, while Ricciardo conceded eight tenths to the Ferrari driver. All other drivers, including Verstappen, only raced on Pirelli’s experimental tires. The Dutchman clocked a 1.39.757, on unknown tires.
Verstappen’s training also came to an end after an hour. The Dutchman parked his Red Bull in the pit box after 26 laps, after which the mechanics mainly worked with his engine. Verstappen chatted with Brad Pitt, who is in Austin because he is working on a film about Formula 1.
There were no major incidents in the second practice, although the drivers did have the necessary moments on the new tires. This was partly due to the fact that the tires are heated up less before they are put on the car. This season, the tire warmers are allowed to heat the rubber to 70 degrees Celsius, in 2023 this may only be done to 50 degrees. Formula 1 wants to completely ban tire warmers by 2024.
Although Leclerc was the fastest, he will still receive a five-place grid penalty because he switches to his sixth engine of the season on Saturday. Sergio Pérez already knew before the first free practice that he had to go five places back. The Mexican has received his fifth Honda engine of the season in Texas in Texas.
