Ferrari swept all three practice sessions at the Circuit of the Americas as Lewis Hamilton led the final hour of running on Saturday.
His team mate Charles Leclerc could have led the times but his quicker lap was deleted for a track limits infringement. It was not the only one of the session for him or his rivals.Race control widened the white lines at the exits of turns 12, 15 and 20 between the first two days of running. However several drivers continued to fall foul of track limits, particularly at the left-handers of turns nine and ten.
Lando Norris initially set the quickest time with a lap of 1’36.066 on softs, but went off at turn 12, so his lap was deleted. Max Verstappen then set a quicker time on the medium rubber.
The Ferrari drivers hit the front, led by Hamilton with a 1’35.561 on softs, which Leclerc then beat on mediums. On their later runs, Hamilton lowered the best to a 1’34.893, even with a slightly slower time through the first sector.
Leclerc produced a 1’34.810 to beat that, but strayed wide at the exit of turn nine and lost his lap time. That relegated him to third place behind Verstappen.
Both Red Bull drivers complained about their car’s balance during the session. Verstappen had a strange moment at turn 15 where he ran wide, then floored the throttle at the exit of the corner, where only his inside, left-hand rear wheel broke traction, producing a cloud of smoke.
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Isack Hadjar raged at Alexander Albon whom he believed held him up at turn one. The Red Bull driver hung around the outside of the corner, temporarily preventing his rival from rejoining. He ended the session at the bottom of the top 10, a second off the pace and is under investigation for driving erratically in the incident with Albon.
The Mercedes drivers slotted in behind Leclerc, Andrea Kimi Antonelli three-tenths of a second off the pace. Oscar Piastri was separated from his team mate by Nico Hulkenberg.
Pierre Gasly pipped Hadjar to ninth, while Liam Lawson was only a thousandth of a second off the Red Bull driver.
Both Audi drivers are under investigation by the stewards following the session. A team representative has been summoned over an incident between Hulkenberg and Lance Stroll while they were performing their practice starts.
Gabriel Bortoleto faces an investigation by the stewards after he delayed Hamilton at turn 12. The Audi driver did not shift from the racing line as the Ferrari driver bore down on him at one of the fastest points on the circuit.
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2026 United States Grand Prix third practice result
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