United States GP FP1: Sainz fastest in the first practice session as 5 drivers took testing duties

Carlos Sainz recorded the fastest time at the latter stages of Free Practice 1, beating Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Mercedes’s Lewis Hamilton. The session saw four rookies getting their first driving experience in the FP1 session of a Formula 1 weekend. Alex Palou (Mclaren), Robert Schwartzman (Ferrari), Theo Pourchaire (Alfa Romeo), and Logan Sargeant (Williams) were the rookie drivers taking testing roles from Ricciardo, Leclerc, Bottas, and Latifi. Antonio Giovinazzi was the returning veteran, taking testing duties for Haas in the first session at the expense of Mick Schumacher.

The beginning of the session saw drivers completing their scheduled tests on medium compound tyres. Verstappen created an early dominance posting a faster time, of which only two drivers came within a second.

Giovinazzi had an outing to forget

Antonio Giovinazzi, one of the contenders to replace Mick Schumacher at Haas for next year, was the reason for the session’s first red flag. In the early part of the session, the Italian spun his car at turn six and smashed the car’s rear into the barriers.

The Italian driver managed to limp home from there. However, due to damages, he overheated the clutch of the vehicle. The accident caused a new headache for Kevin Magnussen as it was his car that Giovinazzi crashed. The clutch problem meant Magnussen would take a new gearbox for the rest of the sessions. The damage caused also didn’t impress Guenther Steiner, who previously lamented the cost of billing Schumacher’s crash caused to the team. The accident would hamper Giovinazzi’s aspiration to replace Schumacher in 2023.

Pirelli Will bring new tyres for testing in FP2

Alex Palou, on the other hand, was having the time of his life. “This car is insane”, exclaimed Palou excitedly as he was awarded practice duties for the first session. Overall all the rookies and Giovinazzi posted the bottom five times of the session. Up the timing sheets, Lance Stroll had a dominant morning session for Aston Martin finishing P4, and Fernando Alonso continued Alpine’s consistent form by finishing P6. The second session would include tyre tests for Pirelli’s 2023 specifications tyres.

Engine Penalties for Perez and Zhou

Red Bull and Alfa Romeo have confirmed that Sergio Perez and Zhou Guanyu respectively will take new engine components. Both drivers will take grid penalties. Ferrari also announced that their drivers are poised to take new engine parts as well. the resulting grid penalties mean that Red Bull would have a good chance to wrap up the constructor’s battle this weekend.

FP1 Classification