United States GP FP2 Report: Red Bull Rebounds With Perez As Mercedes Duo Outpace Verstappen

After a slightly bumpy FP1 session, the Formula 1 cars make their way back to the tracks at COTA. Valtteri Bottas had kicked off the United States GP weekend by topping the time charts in FP1, a spot taken by his Red Bull counterpart, Sergio Perez in the second session.

Mercedes and Red Bull continued to shuffle around the top of the charts; however, the session culminated with Sergio Perez finishing on the top.  Towards the final moments of the session, Checo had found a comfortable spot on the top of the timesheets and stayed there till the end.

Verstappen, on the other hand, failed to set representative times with the softs, finishing eighth in the session. Lando Norris once again found himself sandwiched in the title battle in P2. Lewis Hamilton finished third with Bottas close behind him in fourth. Daniel Ricciardo rounded off the top 5.

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However, as the timesheets declared, Mercedes continued to be the fastest car on the track.

A messy time around the American circuit

A lot happened during the hullabaloo of a session, with Mazepin having helmet problems, Ocon running wide, and the usual turn 1 lock-ups; Sunday is going to be interesting if this carries on.

The weather this session replicated the temperatures in FP1, keeping the tracks and the engines warm. The weaving track had its effects this session, as drivers struggled with braking on the bumpy circuit. Turn 9 and 19 track limits continued to notoriously affect lap time, with Lewis Hamilton being affected first.

Nikita Mazepin “avoided a crash” as the circuit continued to be difficult to set good laps on. Traffic was a recurring problem in the session, with Verstappen getting irritated with the crowd as well.

Fernando Alonso, contrarily, found himself in the barriers in the dying moments of the session. Having locked up at turn 19, the Spaniard was quick to get his Alpine out of the gravel and into the pits.

Lance Stroll made a surprise appearance on the top of the charts. The Canadian came out on the softs with forty minutes to go and pushed his Aston Martin to the top of the timesheets. Surprisingly, he made himself comfortable amongst the leaders, keeping his lap times consistent. Stroll finished sixth, ahead of the Ferraris; the team will look forward to the weekend, with both cars performing with absolute finesse.

Delving into FP2 of the United States GP

Max and Lewis got under each other’s skin again, with Max calling his rival a “stupid idiot” on the team radio. Hamilton tried racing the Dutchman, taking the inside line and overtaking Verstappen.

Traffic bothered Max Verstappen, as we saw a glimpse of Mad Max during the session. What was set off with Hamilton’s overtaking, was topped off with traffic on the track on his flying lap on softs.

On the other hand, his teammate Sergio Perez continued setting some impressive time for the team in the sister car.

McLaren find some hidden pace at COTA

Charles Leclerc found some incredible pace in his Ferrari, often finding himself on the better half of the timesheets. Carlos Sainz too pushed his Prancing Horse to the limit, finishing ninth on the sheets. After struggling a bit, the red cars were soon on par with their rivals.

Although impressive, Ferrari won’t be getting too comfortable, as the McLaren flying laps promise the Papaya duo a good run in qualifying. Norris and Ricciardo hardly broke a sweat, often competing with Red Bull in terms of pace.

At the end of the session, both McLaren drivers made their way to the top five; Leclerc finished seventh, a little further behind their rivals than they would have liked.

Softs are the way to go in hot Austin

A majority of the drivers started their session on the medium tires, barring Fernando Alonso and Daniel Ricciardo starting on softs; the Aussie set a purple lap on his first lap around COTA, highlighting the pace in the red tires.

Soon, the softs were back on, shuffling the timesheets as the pace quickly increased. It looks like the pace in the soft boots will be key in Sunday’s race strategies.

As day one at Austin meets its hectic end, the teams and the fans have a lot to look forward to on Saturday. Will Mercedes’ magic machine push Hamilton and Bottas onto the rostrum or will Verstappen and Perez intervene on the dream result for Mercedes? Before finding the answers, the grid has to be set with what will surely be a fascinating qualifying session.

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