@LewisHamilton tops #UnitedStatesGP FP2 ahead of @Charles_Leclerc. #F1 #USGP

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton ended Free Practice 2 on top of the time-sheets at the United States GP ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by 0.301 seconds.

Ferrari’s Leclerc was quickest in the early stages, which was interrupted a red flag caused by Haas F1 Team’s Romain Grosjean.

Leclerc posted a 1:34.434 using the C3 medium compounds, which put the Monegasque youngster 0.158 seconds faster than Hamilton with the latter running the harder tyre.

But championship leader Hamilton hit back once the drivers switched to the soft rubber, setting the session’s best effort of a 1:33.232 to top the time-sheets.

This was despite being 0.317 seconds behind Leclerc at the end of sector one, with a strong slipstream from ROKiT Williams Racing’s Robert Kubica in the middle sector allowing Hamilton to take half a second out of Leclerc’s time.

Hamilton ended up 0.301 seconds quicker than Leclerc having gained more time in the final sector.

Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen was the last of the front-running drivers to post a time on mediums, lapping 0.315 seconds adrift of Hamilton’s United States FP2 leading benchmark to take third place with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel a further 0.343 seconds off in fourth.

This was still enough for Vettel, who suffered a spin in the latter stages whilst on the hard rubber coming through the right hand turn 14 and well clear of fifth-placed Valtteri Bottas’ Mercedes.

Bottas questioned over the radio where he had lost time, and was told it was due to a combination of not having a tow and time lost on the straights.

The Finn made a small improvement on his effort, but was 0.813 adrift of team-mate Hamilton’s United States GP FP2 benchmark.

Red Bull Racing’s Alexander Albon was sixth quickest on the time-sheets and in-front of Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly who ended the day seventh.

Gasly said it was a ‘good lap’ after jumping to seventh on the time-sheets and was well ahead of McLaren’s eighth-placed Carlos Sainz.

Racing Point’s Lance Stroll was one of the final runners to post a time on the softs, moving into the top ten and posting a 1:34.744 with 37 minutes left on the clock and wound up ninth.

Alfa Romeo Racing’s Antonio Giovinazzi ended FP2 in tenth place and 1.607 adrift of Hamilton’s United States GP FP2 benchmark.

The Renault pairing of Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg finished the day 11th and 13th respectively with Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat sandwiched in-between the pairing in 12th.

McLaren’s Lando Norris was 14th quickest on the time-sheets and in-front of Racing Point’s Sergio Perez who took 15th and Alfa Romeo Racing’s Kimi Raikkonen who ended the day 16th.

You can read the full Formula 1 United States Grand Prix Free Practice 2 Results Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2019/races/1018/united-states/practice-2.html

You can also catch up on Free Practice 1, F1 Newsbites – 2021 Rules & Regulations Special Edition as well as this weekend’s race preview at the following links:

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#F1 Newsbites – 2021 Rules & Regulations Edition. #F12021 @F1

@F1 @Emirates #UnitedStatesGP 2019 Preview – #USGP #F1 @COTA