Home F1 US GP: Leclerc tops FP2 from Bottas, Ricciardo amid tyre testing

US GP: Leclerc tops FP2 from Bottas, Ricciardo amid tyre testing

21/10/2022

Charles Leclerc kept Ferrari on top in FP2 of F1 US GP from Valtteri Bottas and Daniel Ricciardo as Pirelli undertake tyre testing.

The FP2 session wasn’t the straight forward one in F1 US GP at Circuit of the Americas as Pirelli undertook tyre testing for the 2023 season where the Italian manufacturer were given prototype compounds for both qualifying and race runs.

As it is, the teams and drivers were not told about the compounds with them spreading their run in an extended one hour and 30 minutes session. It was mostly smooth where Leclerc (1m36.810s) kept Ferrari on top in FP2 of F1 US GP weekend.

The Monegasque returned to action after Robert Shwartzman drove his car in FP1 but interestingly set the pace on the medium tyres as he led Alfa Romeo’s Bottas (1m37.525s) and McLaren’s Ricciardo (1m37.627s) – both on the soft compound.

The Australian had his first go after Alex Palou got the chance in FP1, as Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz (1m38.232s) slotted in fourth from Haas’ Mick Schumacher (1m39.507s) with the other McLaren of Lando Norris (1m39.547s) in sixth.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen (1m39.575s) was only seventh after an early end much like teammate Sergio Perez (1m39.852s) who was 10th behind Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton (1m39.698s) and AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly (1m39.840s) in eighth and ninth – where everyone apart from Top 3 had the prototype compounds.

Hamilton was involved in a couple of moments, one his own going wide while the other was almost holding up Alpine’s Fernando Alonso which miffed the Spaniard. Haas’ Kevin Magnussen ended up just out the Top 10 in 11th.

AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda was 12th From Mercedes’ George Russell with Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu in 14th from Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu and the leading Aston Martin of Lance Stroll. The Canadian led the pair of Alpine drivers with Esteban Ocon leading in 16th.

Alonso was 17th after his own sideways moment, as Williams’ Alexander Albon was 18th from Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel and the other Williams of Nicholas Latifi – where everyone in the other part of Top 10 also set their best lap on the prototype tyres.