Hülkenberg splits McLarens in sole USGP practice session

During the sole practice session of the United States Grand Prix weekend, a number of drivers ran into costly setbacks before Nico Hülkenberg’s late flyer saw him split the McLaren duo ahead of Sprint Qualifying.

The Texan sun beamed down on the Circuit of The Americas as the light went green to kickstart the sole practice session of the weekend, with Max Verstappen leading the handful of eager drivers out of the pitlane.

Liam Lawson wasn’t too far behind his former Red Bull teammate, sporting a new-look black and amber ‘tortoise’ livery in partnership with Cash App and country music star Shaboozey as he set off on the hard compound tyre.

For the second time this season, Pirelli has brought three non-consecutive compounds for the weekend, the first instance being at Spa-Francorchamps, where poor weather conditions prevented the grid from discovering how this choice would have affected strategy.

Similar to the Belgian Grand Prix, the permitted tyres for the United States Grand Prix will be the C1 as hard, the C3 as medium, and the C4 as soft, opening the door for both one-stop and two-stop strategies on a weekend where practice is limited.

The 23-year-old was on the mark during the opening ten minutes, appearing at the top of the order on many occasions before Racing Bulls’ session became slightly more tentative.

Following his teammate’s scrappy lead, Lawson experienced a snap of oversteer as he rounded Turn 11, aborting his flying run before a brief Red Flag halted the session.

When the session restarted, Lawson had long-run simulations on his mind, with the Kiwi completing eight laps on the C1 before making the switch to the medium compound for the final ten minutes.

It was a quiet end to Free Practice for Lawson, with the Racing Bulls driver slipping into the latter half of the field after only completing two laps on the C3.

As a result, the Kiwi recorded a fastest time of 1:34.619s, leaving him in P15 as Sprint Qualifying quickly approaches.

Running a new livery of his own, Oscar Piastri kicked off Free Practice with his Google Gemini-inspired McLaren on display, instantly boosting himself into the top three as the first ten minutes ticked by.

The Australian’s time of 1:37.339s dragged him down the order as the session progressed, and even after shaving an additional second off his lap, Piastri remained in P15 when a Red Flag hit the circuit. 

Finding his groove ahead of his long runs, Piastri boosted his McLaren into the top five, tracking two-tenths behind his teammate with 20 minutes of Free Practice remaining.

When it came time for qualifying simulations, Piastri recorded the fastest middle sector on his first soft tyre run, settling into third place with a lap two-tenths behind the initial C4 benchmark. 

After being picked off by Nico Hülkenberg and Lando Norris, the Australian found extra motivation to reduce his time by over three-tenths, placing Piastri into P2 before the Sauber driver stunned once again to split the McLaren teammates.

At the chequered flag, Piastri’s fastest time of the hour was a 1:33.573s, with the Australian’s only edge over his teammate coming in the form of a few milliseconds in the first sector.

As for the rest of the field, the Williams duo found comfort and confidence as they lapped within the top three times, settling in amongst Red Bull, McLaren, and Ferrari representatives as the hour gained momentum.

Verstappen and his chasing teammate soon boosted their RB21s into the lead time slots, with the reigning World Champion’s benchmark of 1:35.426s placing him three-tenths clear of Yuki Tsunoda.

As for the man rumoured to be accompanying Verstappen in 2026, Isack Hadjar was one of the first drivers to face traffic interference as he rounded the final sequence of corners, running off track to avoid a handful of slow-moving cars.

The Racing Bulls driver’s struggles continued through to Turn 5, where Hadjar was forced to abort his lap after diverting across the Silverstone-esque kerbs.

As FP1 ticked towards the halfway mark, a brief Red Flag was declared when Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin littered carbon fibre debris at Turn 19, with the harsh kerbs stealing five minutes of crucial run time from the field while the track marshals cleared the circuit. 

When the session restarted, the drivers gradually filed out of the pitlane, still remaining on the hard compound tyre as Lewis Hamilton, with a time of 1:34.857s, led the charge over Verstappen and George Russell.

The man Hamilton replaced at Ferrari wasn’t having as much fun, with Carlos Sainz’s earlier burst of pace fading when he was issued an urgent “do not push” message over team radio, a “potential issue” with the gearbox the cause of Williams’ concern as they dissected Car No.55 in the garage. 

Esteban Ocon had concerns of his own when his throttle “stayed at one hundred percent”, forcing the Frenchman to lock up, resulting in Haas taking a lengthy look under the covers during the rest of the field’s long-run simulations. 

A brief lull fell over the Circuit of The Americas, with qualifying simulations rounding out the final ten minutes of the hour when the drivers returned.

On the soft compound tyre, Verstappen instantly lit up the timesheets as he flew through the 5.5km circuit, resulting in a time of 1:33.648s, which was quickly beaten by Fernando Alonso, who knocked the Dutchman down a peg by just nine milliseconds.

Lando Norris picked up the pace to make the former’s benchmark look minuscule, putting over three-tenths of leeway between himself and the Aston Martin driver as he boosted his MCL39 into the top spot, notably leaving Piastri over five-tenths back in his wake. 

At the other end of the spectrum, Charles Leclerc reported an “oil smell” in his SF25 as he informed the Ferrari pit wall of significant gear shifting issues across the lap, resulting in the Monegasque’s session coming to an early end when he was called into the pitlane, visibly frustrated as he was ushered back into the Ferrari garage. 

Leclerc’s car was instantly pulled apart when he jumped out of the cockpit, with the Italian outfit needing to complete a gearbox change ahead of Sprint Qualifying.

Also lugging around a Ferrari engine, however, reaping the rewards of the Italian power, Hülkenberg stunned on the soft compound tyre, raising expectations as he recorded purple sectors in the dying moments of FP1.

The Sauber driver outpaced all but Norris to round out the sole hour of practice in P2, with his flying time of 1:33.549s giving the underdog an extra boost of confidence ahead of Sprint Qualifying.

The 44-minute shootout to set the grid for Saturday’s Sprint event will kick off at 8:30 AEST, with FP1’s complications and final standings leaving much up in the air ahead of the first competitive session of the weekend.

Image: McLaren

USGP Free Practice Results:

2025 United States Grand Prix Schedule (AEST):

Saturday, October 18th:

Free Practice: 04:30 – 05:30

Sprint Qualifying: 08:30 – 09:14

Sunday, October 19th:

Sprint Race: 04:00 – 04:30

Qualifying: 08:00 – 09:00

Monday, October 20th:

Race: 06:00 – 08:00

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