P1racenews AI automatic summary:
Lando Norris comfortably led the way at the end of the first practice session for the United States Grand Prix.
Lando Norris was impressively faster than last year’s leading practice time, set by Carlos Sainz while at Williams, by just over three-tenths of a second. Following a collision in the last race, Norris faces repercussions along with Oscar Piastri and McLaren CEO Zak Brown confirming consequences for the incident.
Norris topped the time sheets with a 1:32.294s, followed closely by Nico Hulkenberg at 0.255s back, while championship leader Piastri settled for third place 0.279s behind his teammate.
The practice session at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin was cut short by five minutes due to a red flag caused by Lance Stroll, leading to debris flying off his Aston Martin. Until then, the session was dominated by hard-tyre running and tight competition in lap times.
Following the break, Norris improved his time to split Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, although still behind Hamilton by 0.540s. The session shifted focus to higher-fuel running and low-fuel qualifying runs towards the end.
Fernando Alonso impressed with a quick time on soft tires, only to be outpaced by Norris shortly after. The session saw surprises with Hulkenberg splitting the McLaren duo, finishing ahead of Verstappen and Alex Albon in sixth. Hamilton and Charles Leclerc faced challenges, with Leclerc missing out on the closing stages due to a technical issue, leaving him at the bottom of the timesheet.
