Austin, TX – Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Mercedes GP speaks to reporters following the drivers press conference ahead of the United States Formula One Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas on October 20, 2016.
The Mercedes drivers jumped out to a great start in practice 1 Friday for Formula One’s U.S. Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas.
Lewis Hamilton, second in the world championship standings, quickly posted the best lap time in the 90-minute session and it was holding up through the first 40 minutes. Hamilton’s top time was 1:38.701 over the 20-turn, 3.4-mile layout.
Teammate Nico Rosberg, who leads Hamilton by 33 points, owned the second-best lap time about halfway through the session, a 1:39.038.
Scuderia Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel was the top non-Mercedes man, with a 1:39.988.
Nico Hulkenburg of Sahara Force India stood in fourth place, followed by Kimi Raikkonen (Scuderia Ferrari) and Valtteri Bottas (Williams Martini).
Practice 2 will be held Friday from 2-3:30 p.m. Central.
Qualifying is Saturday afternoon, and the race is at 2 p.m. Sunday.
