2026 United States Grand Prix Practice Highlights: Red Bull Pace, McLaren Gains and What It Means for the Championship

Friday’s first practice session at the 2026 United States Grand Prix in Austin delivered a clear message: Red Bull Racing continues to dominate the 2026 season, but McLaren showed signs of resurgence that could shake up the championship battle. According to Autosport’s session recap, Max Verstappen topped the timesheets with a lap of 1:33.842, a full 0.6 seconds clear of his nearest rival.

Red Bull’s pace remains unrivalled

Verstappen’s fastest lap was set on medium‑compound tyres midway through the 90‑minute window, highlighting the team’s confidence in their new aerodynamic package for COTA. Sergio Pérez, who qualified second in the previous race, was the next fastest driver, posting a 1:34.215. The gap to the third‑placed car – Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc – was just over half a second, confirming Red Bull’s grip on the top step of the podium.

McLaren’s breakthrough performance

McLaren’s practice report, released on the team’s official site, celebrated Lando Norris’s best lap of the season: 1:35.009 on soft tyres. This marked the first time a McLaren driver has broken the 1:35 barrier at COTA, and it placed the British driver fourth overall, ahead of both Ferraris and Mercedes. Oscar Piastri, meanwhile, ran a solid 1:35.487, slotting him into seventh. The team attributed the improvement to a revised rear‑floor design and a more aggressive brake‑by‑wire map, which helped them extract extra grip on the circuit’s long straights.

Other teams and tyre strategies

Alpine and Aston Martin struggled to find rhythm, with both drivers ending the session outside the top ten. Mercedes, despite a strong start to the season, could only manage eighth‑best time with George Russell, while Lewis Hamilton’s lap placed him ninth. Pirelli supplied the standard C1, C2 and C3 compounds, and teams experimented heavily with tyre warm‑up procedures, a factor that will be crucial for the qualifying session on Saturday.

For India: The United States Grand Prix will be broadcast live on FanCode, with the practice session starting at 12:30 IST, qualifying at 16:00 IST and the race kicking off at 22:00 IST on Sunday. Indian fans can also follow live timing on the official F1 app, which offers a dedicated Indian time‑zone overlay.

Source: Autosport, McLaren