{"id":938822,"date":"2026-10-24T03:56:17","date_gmt":"2026-10-24T03:56:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/938822\/"},"modified":"2026-10-24T03:56:17","modified_gmt":"2026-10-24T03:56:17","slug":"impossible-track-opens-four-way-fight-aussie-favourite-faces-axe-in-driver-twist-talking-pts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/938822\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Impossible\u2019 track opens four-way fight; Aussie favourite faces axe in driver twist: Talking Pts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ferrari brought its latest big upgrade to the United States Grand Prix, and Charles Leclerc topped both Friday practice sessions<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But while it was a comprehensive performance from Leclerc, it wasn\u2019t a dominant one.<\/p>\n

Both sessions were topped by less than 0.1s. In FP2 title leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli was just 0.042s off the pace.<\/p>\n

Fox Sports, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every practice, qualifying session and race in the 2026 FIA Formula One World Championship\u2122 LIVE in 4K | Get Kayo now.<\/a><\/p>\n

The ways these two cars are generating performance, though, are drastically different.<\/p>\n

The Ferrari is unbeatable in the final sector, from turn 13 to the finish line. This part of the track is technical and dominated by slow corners.<\/p>\n

The Mercedes, unsurprisingly, is quickest in the middle sector, which is dominated by the long back straight, where Antonelli gains more than 0.3s on Leclerc.<\/p>\n

The difference-maker is the first sector, where it\u2019s close but where the sharp first turn and esses play to Ferrari\u2019s strengths.<\/p>\n

The result are two cars that are very evenly matched despite being polar opposites in performance terms.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe feeling is quite good, but we need to be careful,\u201d Leclerc said. <\/p>\n

\u201cObviously it\u2019s only Friday, and we are seeing what we expected, but again, it\u2019s definitely not what everybody thinks in terms of upgrade and lap time gained.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it\u2019s been a good day. I think the balance of the car was good, and straight away we started in a good window, and that paid off.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously all the hard work that has been done to bring this upgrade as soon as possible is helping us a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n

The challenge for Ferrari will be to keep its nose ahead of Mercedes, which had a more difficult day.<\/p>\n

Both Antonelli and George Russell are using the upgraded aero pack this weekend, which the team said after Singapore has a narrower set-up window \u2014 and both cars started well outside that window in FP1.<\/p>\n

Things were better by FP2, but Antonelli hinted that there was more to come if the team could hone further overnight.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re still trying to find how to put the car in the right window, but definitely we\u2019ve been doing a step forward, and we\u2019ll see what we can do to improve even more,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

At the end of FP2, only one other driver got within half a second of the leaders, and that was, unsurprisingly, Max Verstappen.<\/p>\n

Again the Red Bull Racing car was quicker than the Mercedes \u2014 and obviously the Ferrari \u2014 down the straights, though it seemed to sacrifice some slow-corner performance to put the car in that position.<\/p>\n

But despite the massive gap back to the other cars \u2014 including Russell in the other Mercedes \u2014 the picture is not as clear-cut as it would appear.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe shouldn\u2019t carry too high expectations into tomorrow, because I feel like the others have more potential to unlock for sure,\u201d Leclerc said.<\/p>\n

\u201cKimi and Max seem to be very, very strong. The McLaren I don\u2019t really know yet \u2014 I don\u2019t think they\u2019ve put everything together yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fact neither McLaren could get into the mix illustrates what could become a major storyline for the weekend.<\/p>\n

\"KimiKimi Antonelli in his garage during the second practice session for the United States Grand Prix. (Photo by RONALDO SCHEMIDT \/ AFP)Source: AFP<\/p>\n

McLAREN DEMONSTRATES KEY CHALLENGE<\/p>\n

The Circuit of the Americas layout is a modern classic, but the bumpy track surface and low-grip conditions in the baking sun make it extremely challenging to drive \u2014 or, more to the point, to keep a car on the track.<\/p>\n

Verstappen said ahead of the weekend that the bumps were so severe in places that they were a spine damage risk. Gabriel Bortoleto said after practice that the track isn\u2019t up to F1 standard. Lando Norris suggested that it wouldn\u2019t be homologated as a new track today because it\u2019s way beyond FIA tolerances.<\/p>\n

But this is a long-running story for this track, and the teams and drivers just have to get on with it.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s easier said than done.<\/p>\n

Underlining how tough this surface has become, 179 laps were deleted on Friday due to track limits.<\/p>\n

Not all of them were competitive times \u2014 some were drivers getting out of the way of others \u2014 but several frontrunners had fast times deleted in both sessions because they drove over the circuit boundary.<\/p>\n

Both McLaren drivers were caught out, leaving them more than a second off the pace without truly representative times.<\/p>\n

Oscar Piastri was eighth but had his fastest lap deleted for exceeding track limits at turn 20, the last corner. It was 0.358s fast than his next-best time, so it would have put him fifth, ahead of Russell.<\/p>\n

Norris was unable to get in a representative lap on softs at all, with his best time, good enough for seventh, set on his opening set of hards.<\/p>\n

He had been on a quick lap before locking his rear axle on the bumps at turn 15. He had been around 0.15s quicker than Piastri just before leaving the circuit, having gained more than 0.3s down the back straight.<\/p>\n

If we say, conservatively, that he would have locked in the 0.15s gain, he would have been fourth, ahead of Hamilton \u2014 though he would have still been 0.588s slower than Leclerc.<\/p>\n

Lando Norris leads Oscar Piastri on track during practice. (Photo by Mark Thompson\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n

Both Russell and Verstappen had competitive laps deleted across FP1 and FP2 as well, among several other drivers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just impossible to put a lap together,\u201d Norris said. \u201cThere are signs of good pace, but to go into qualifying now and be able to repeat that every lap and do it on demand is just too difficult.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure it\u2019s the same for everyone, honestly, so I think we just need to make some small tweaks to the car.\u201d<\/p>\n

McLaren\u2019s tricky car is also playing a role. Both drivers have talked in recent rounds of how much the MCL40 is on a knife edge, needing to be pushed at 100 per cent constantly to get any speed out of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not like there\u2019s anything crazy; it\u2019s just it\u2019s tough, and maybe our car handling is just a little bit on the difficult-to-achieve side,\u201d Norris continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe some small things in a few directions can help us out, but the pace is there or thereabouts. We can still be optimistic.\u201d<\/p>\n

The team thinks it can be in the mix for pole if it can extract some consistency from its car. It would be a mighty leap, but given the other three frontrunning teams are so close and McLaren has rarely been that far adrift, you couldn\u2019t rule it out.<\/p>\n

We could be looking at a four-team battle for pole and victory, and given this circuit usually produces great racing, we could be in for quite the spectacle.<\/p>\n

Piastri puts the moves on Hamilton late | 00:59<\/p>\n

CADILLAC HINTS AT DRIVER CHANGE<\/p>\n

Away from the track, the driver market has taken a late and potentially explosive turn.<\/p>\n

Since Haas confirmed it would sack Esteban Ocon<\/a> and, later, would replace him with Rafael C\u00e2mara for 2027, next year\u2019s field seemed almost complete.<\/p>\n

Only Racing Bulls hasn\u2019t yet committed to its line-up, but both Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad are tipped for retention, with an announcement expected soon.<\/p>\n

It would appear to leave Ocon locked out, but the Frenchman has insisted that he\u2019s working on keeping a seat on the 2027 grid. <\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t say that,\u201d he told reporters when it was suggested this would be his final United States Grand Prix, per the F1 website.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve won everything, in every category I\u2019ve done in go-karts, in Formula Renault, in F3, in GP3, in F1.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn all these categories I\u2019ve won races, so just thinking of a sports perspective, I deserve to be in F1, and I believe that this is not my last year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now Cadillac has emerged as a possible refuge.<\/p>\n

The American-owned team announced both drivers for 2026 last year but subsequently gave the impression that both were on two-year deals \u2014 or \u201cmulti-year\u201d in F1 parlance.<\/p>\n

Cadillac is now giving the impression that, actually, nothing is confirmed for next season.<\/p>\n

Asked bluntly on Friday whether P\u00e9rez and Valtteri Bottas had contracts for next year, team principal Marcin Budkowski refused to confirm.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the last place I would comment on driver contracts, and in general, I think it\u2019s not something that is done in the press,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s something which will be done by official releases from the team when the time is right.\u201d<\/p>\n

Racer has reported that P\u00e9rez has already held talks about a new deal<\/a>, and the Mexican is viewed as the safer bet, having had a better season than Bottas.<\/p>\n

Bottas, however, is seen as vulnerable.<\/p>\n

Valtteri Bottas is facing an uncertain F1 future. (Photo by Mark Sutton \/ GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA \/ Getty Images via AFP)Source: AFP<\/p>\n

It\u2019s worth remembering that Budkowski is not the team principal who signed P\u00e9rez and Bottas, having replaced Graeme Lowdon at the midseason break.<\/p>\n

Budkowski has also already worked with Ocon when the Frenchman was at Alpine, and reports suggest he rates the one-time race winner.<\/p>\n

But Racer reports that team owner Dan Towriss remains keen to get IndyCar convert Colton Herta into F1 at some stage despite the American\u2019s underwhelming rookie F2 season.<\/p>\n

Herta took part in FP1 for Cadillac and reiterated to Racer that his goal was to get to F1 \u201cas soon as possible\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope in the next few weeks to kind of figure it out and understand what the plan looks like for next year and see if it\u2019s concrete,\u201d he said. \u201cBut we\u2019ve got a lot to figure out until then.\u201d<\/p>\n

Herta\u2019s route has been blocked by him not having a super licence, but the American is only one point short, which he could get by participating in one more FP1 session, which would make him a live option.<\/p>\n

The silly season, in its final moments, could have one more twist in store.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ferrari brought its latest big upgrade to the United States Grand Prix, and Charles Leclerc topped both Friday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":938823,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[64,63,817,813,816,85],"class_list":["post-938822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/938822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=938822"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/938822\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/938823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=938822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=938822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=938822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}