F1 practice LIVE: US Grand Prix 2026 times, results & commentary from Austin

Live Reporting Leaderboard Summary US Grand Prix final practice Qualifying in Austin at 22:00 BST Ferrari's Charles Leclerc fastest in Friday practice Kimi Antonelli can win world title this weekend Mercedes driver must win race with Russell ninth or lower and Hamilton fifth or lower Select 'listen live' for BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra commentary (UK only) Live Reporting Lorraine McKenna Post published at 18:37 BST Like every Saturday third practice session, there's no real rush to get out on track early.

Oscar Piastri is chatting to his McLaren crew, Mercedes are busy working on championship leader Kimi Antonelli's car. Mexican Sergio Perez has ventured out on a set of the hard compound. This is a home race weekend for newbies Cadillac, but the American team are yet to score a point in Formula 1.

The Alpines of Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly have joined Perez at Cota, but the two drivers are taking the medoum tyre out for a few laps in the opening minutes of this session instead. Post published at 18:35 BST Andrew Benson BBC F1 correspondent in Austin It's really close.

On the race runs, which are the better indication of pace, it looked like Max Verstappen and Red Bull were the quickest but it was hard to tell. Yes, Charles Leclerc was fastest overall in terms of one-lap pace but it's very difficult to predict who will come out on top. How can Antonelli win title in Austin? published at 18:32 BST Image source, Getty Images The mindset for Kimi Antonelli this weekend is just to have fun and forget about the possibility of becoming the youngest ever F1 world champion.

"It's crazy if you think about it, but that's why I won't think about it," Antonelli said on Thursday. We'll get a better idea of where we stand once qualifying is over but here's what the Mercedes driver needs in order to claim the title at the United States Grand Prix. As it stands, the Italian is 102 points ahead of team-mate George Russell in second and 111 points clear of third-placed Lewis Hamilton.

To lift the championship he needs to win the race on Sunday and Russell has to finish ninth or lower and Hamilton outside the top four. Go! Go!

Go! published at 18:30 BST Yeehaw. Final practice is green. Image source, Getty Images More ways to listen published at 18:27 BST BBC Sounds Harry Benjamin and F1 correspondent Andrew Benson are joined by 1996 world champion Damon Hill for the rest of the weekend.

To tune in to commentary, you can either click the listen live tab at the top of the page, search for 5 Sports Extra via the BBC Sounds app if you're heading out, or you can ask your smart speaker to "play 5 Sports Extra". Verstappen showing long-run pace published at 18:24 BST Andrew Benson BBC F1 correspondent in Austin Image source, Getty Images Max Verstappen appeared fastest on the race-simulation runs later in the second session, which often provide a more accurate read of overall competitiveness than the single laps.

The Dutchman could be compared directly only with the Ferrari drivers, as all were running the soft-compound tyres on their long runs. Verstappen was marginally faster than Charles Leclerc on average but the consistency of his pace suggested he was in the best shape, at least on Friday.

Lewis Hamilton appeared to be struggling for pace compared with Leclerc whether on short runs or long. However, all the top teams' times were close enough for it to be very difficult to ascertain an order of competitiveness. Leclerc tops Friday practice in Austin published at 18:20 BST Image source, Getty Images Charles Leclerc set the pace in yesterday's opening practice sessions at Cota, topping the times ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen in the opening hour and championship leader Kimi Antonelli in the second.

The Ferrari driver was 0.042 seconds quicker than Mercedes' Antonelli in FP2, with Malaysia and Singapore winner Verstappen not too far behind in third place. Lewis Hamilton was fourth fastest, but he was 0.615secs off the pace of his Scuderia team-mate Leclerc. George Russell, who needs a perfect weekend to keep in touch with Antonelli in the title fight, was fifth, while Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson finished his session above the two McLarens of world champion Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in seventh.

Norris might have more to offer, though, as he failed to set a time on the soft tyre during qualifying runs after making a mistake at Turn 16. The other Red Bull of Isack Hadjar and Haas' Oliver Bearman completed the top 10 in ninth and 10th respectively. Hadjar was vocal over team radio about the performance of his car, calling it "undriveable" after the session.

The other main talking point yesterday was the dreaded track limits, with plenty of drivers having times deleted throughout each session. Austin: Third practice published at 18:15 BST Lorraine McKenna BBC Sport Journalist Image source, Getty Images Hello, folks. Friday practice went off without a hitch in Austin and now teams and drivers are focusing their attention on today's all-important qualifying session.

Kimi Antonelli has arrived at the United States Grand Prix with a couple of fingers lightly touching the 2026 drivers' championship. The young Italian has the opportunity to be crowned title winner with races to spare this weekend if he can win tomorrow's race and George Russell and Lewis Hamilton stumble.

He wasn't the quickest man at the Circuit of the Americas yesterday, though, as that honour went to Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, who made it a clean sweep at the top of the timesheets in both first and second practice.