Hamilton fastest in opening session at Austin

F1 Grand Prix, GP USA, Circuit of The Americas

Lewis Hamilton made it a perfect start for his United States GP weekend by topping the times in the first free practice session. He edged out championship rival and team mate Nico Rosberg by little more than three tenths. Max Verstappen was third fastest for Red Bull Racing.

The Mercedes duo were unsurprisingly comfortably ahead of the competition, with the Silver Arrows setting their fastest times on the soft tyres. Verstappen on the mediums was therefore nearly 2 seconds slower than the pace setter.

Kimi Raikkonen was fourth fastest in the Ferrari, having been Mercedes' closest competitor throughout the session, until Verstappen popped up, narrowly edging out the Ferrari. Both were on medium tyres, whereas Hulkenberg ended up in 5th using the supersofts.

Valtteri Bottas was 6th fastest on softs, followed Ricciardo and Vettel. The latter encountered a problem little past the halfway point in the session when debris struck his right hand side mirror. The support failed as a consequence, forcing Vettel to hold on to the component while driving single-handedly back to the pitlane.

The duo of Toro Rosso completed the top 10.