USGP FP1 results: Bottas fastest, followed by Hamilton and Verstappen 

Valtteri Bottas was fastest in the first free practice session ahead of the 2021 USGP at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin. The Finn led fellow Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, who was second fastest, and Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen, who was third fastest in the session.

Mercedes’ Finn was narrowly ahead of their British world champion by a margin of 0.045 seconds. The two Mercedes clocked their fastest laps on the soft tire compound, with Bottas’ fastest lap clocked at 1 minute 34. 874 seconds.

However, it has been revealed that the Finn will be reprimanded with an engine penalty for the race for swapping to his 6th engine of the season.

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Bottas fastest and Hamilton second fastest while Verstappen almost a second off-pace in FP1 of the USGP

Max Verstappen talks with Red Bull Racing Team Principal Christian Horner in the garage during practice ahead of the 2021 USGP in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

Verstappen, who clocked the third fastest lap of the free practice session on the same tire, was almost a second adrift of both Mercedes drivers. The Red Bull Racing title contender was 0.887 seconds behind Hamilton and a further 0.932 seconds slower than Bottas. The Dutchman is expected to have used one less set of soft tires than his rivals in the session.

Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz clocked fourth and fifth fastest time in the session. Leclerc’s time was half a second slower than Verstappen’s fastest lap. However, the two Ferrari’s were split by a mere two tenths of a second.

Alpha Tauri driver Pierre Gasly clocked the sixth fastest lap of the session, followed by Sergio Perez who classified seventh fastest. The Mexican Red Bull Racing driver showcased his fastest lap on a set of hard compound tires. Perez used three sets of hard tires and one set of soft tires in the session and seemed to be running a different simulation program.

McLaren’s Lando Norris was the lone McLaren in the top 10 of the first free practice session, classifying eighth fastest on the time sheets. The Briton used only two sets of soft tires in the entire session. In comparison to McLaren’s title rivals Ferrari, Norris was 0.347 seconds slower than Sainz and half a second off Leclerc’s pace (-0.521 seconds).

Alfa Romeo drivers Antonio Giovinazzo and Kimi Raikkonen classified ninth and tenth fastest respectively in the free practice session. The two Alfa Romeo drivers were split by a mere 0.002 seconds, and their free practice run involved using two sets of hard compound tires and three sets of soft compound tires.

The Alfa Romeo’s were followed by the Mercedes-bound Williams driver George Russell, who clocked the eleventh fastest time. Despite the British driver leading the second half of the free practice session time-sheets, he will be reprimanded with grid penalties for changing engines, turbocharger and MGU-H components on his car in the USGP.

Alpine drivers Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso clocked the 12th and 15th fastest laps of the session respectively. The two Alpine drivers were split by Aston Martin drivers Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel, who clocked the 13th and 14th fastest lap. Vettel confirmed on Thursday that he will be transitioning to a fifth engine in his car, making him the third driver to score grid penalties this weekend.

McLaren driver Daniel Ricciardo was in the bottom five slowest laps of the session. The Australian classified 16th on the lap charts and was followed by Williams driver Nicholas Latifi, who classified 17th.

Mick Schumacher leads Sergio Perez during FP1 ahead of the USGP at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

Alpha Tauri driver Yuki Tsunoda was classified 18th, followed by Haas drivers Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin, who classified 19th and 20th in the first practice of the USGP.

Since the first free practice session is only the beginning of track action ahead of the USGP weekend, it is an unrepresentative reference point for the true pace of drivers on the American track.

Most drivers rack up their initial mileage in FP1 around the COTA circuit to acclimatize themselves to the layout and tarmac conditions. Therefore, it is not the final answer to the performance, nor is it a prediction for the USGP qualifying or race.