Charles Leclerc was fastest in FP2 at Austin as 2023 Pirelli tires captured the spotlight for Friday’s session.
The Ferrari driver was quickest ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas and McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo, with the trio the only three drivers to run the current 2022 compounds for the first part of the session, being cleared to do so while they were leaving their convenient seats earlier in the afternoon.
On the test tyres, Carlos Sainz was the quickest of the riders, albeit 1.422 seconds off Leclerc’s fastest time, but fifth-placed Mick Schumacher was 1.2 seconds off Sainz, making the competition order difficult to read after a session mainly devoted to practice.
After five pilots swapped seats for FP1, FP2 saw regular pilots return to their cockpits for an extended session β with 90 minutes of racing instead of the usual 60.
The extra half hour is due to Pirelli testing 2023 tire compounds with the drivers, their sets unmarked as they took to the track at COTA.
Leclerc took the opportunity to run on the current compounds early on after missing FP1, and was soon the fastest in 1:36.810 – matching the session lead time of FP1 teammate Carlos Sainz while others were testing 2023 tires.
Former training partners Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton closed in as the two set fast laps, with the Alpine driver caught behind his former McLaren team-mate, complaining that ‘Hamilton has no mirrors today’ so that he has not strayed from his path. .
See Seb test 2023 tires knowing he’s not going to use them π#F1 πΊπΈ #USGP pic.twitter.com/Vx1v2hEXiE
β PlanetF1 (@Planet_F1) October 21, 2022
After meeting Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem was spotted in the Mercedes garage talking to Toto Wolff during the session – after Ben Sulayem and Horner got together. would be met over Red Bull’s 2021 budget cap breach in Austin on Friday.
But back on track, Kevin Magnussen had to enter his garage after complaining that a part was loose between his legs while driving, while Lando Norris had a heart-in-your-mouth moment as he was experiencing oversteer entering the pit lane, luckily avoiding a clip with the wall as he returned to the McLaren garage.
The riders continued to ride on the Pirelli test compounds. Since their level of grip/smoothness was not publicly available, it was difficult to read the times the riders were recording during the first half of the session.
Hamilton pushed the limits at Turn 19, however, running wide on the exit and having to catch his W13 before being sent into a spin.
The extended FP2 session was primarily for the benefit of Pirelli testing tires for next season, with riders doing long stints on Pirelli’s test rubber for next year.
Leclerc, Bottas and Ricciardo took part on the current tires as they missed FP1, meaning they were able to use the first half hour of the session to run practice as they would have done in opening practice.
FP3 Saturday will be a more representative view of where the teams stand ahead of qualifying, with Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes all in the mix based on FP1 results.
FP2 ranking
1 Charles LECLERC Ferrari 1:36.810
2 Valtteri BOTTAS Alfa Romeo +0.715
3 Daniel RICCIARDO McLaren +0.817
4 Carlos SAINZ Ferrari +1.422
5 Mick SCHUMACHER Haas F1 Team +2.697
6 Lando NORRIS McLaren +2.737
7 Max VERSTAPPEN Red Bull Racing +2.765
8 Lewis HAMILTONMercedes +2.888
9 Pierre GASLY AlphaTauri +3.030
10 Sergio PEREZ Red Bull Race +3.042
11 Kevin MAGNUSSEN Haas F1 Team +3,274
12 Yuki TSUNODA Alpha Tauri +3.368
13 George RUSSELL Mercedes +3.752
14 ZHOU Guanyu Alfa Romeo +3.854
15 Lance STROLL Aston Martin +3.996
16 Esteban OCON Alpine +4.500
17 Fernando ALONSO Alpine +4.524
18 Alexander ALBON Williams +5.043
19 Sebastien VETTEL Aston Martin +5.047
20 Nicolas LATIFI Williams +5.507
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