John N
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc posted the fastest time in FP2 for the 2022 United States Grand Prix – this session lengthened from 60 to 90 minutes for Pirelli’s prototype 2023 tyre test. Leclerc clocked a 1m 36.810s during an early stint on the 2022-spec medium tyre, having been allowed to run his programme at the start of the session after sitting out FP1 due to high humidity levels and cooler temperatures when he took part in FP1.
With weather conditions hot and sunny at the Circuit of The Americas, it proved to be an ideal session for Pirelli to gather representative data on their work-in-progress compounds before a planned post-season test for the definitive versions in Abu Dhabi.
Alongside Leclerc and Ferrari, several other drivers and teams conducted bespoke programmes for a portion of FP2 before focusing on the tyre test, with McLaren, Alfa Romeo, Williams and Haas also given dispensation for running ‘rookie’ drivers in FP1.
FP2 marked the first laps of the weekend for Leclerc, Daniel Ricciardo, Valtteri Bottas, Nicholas Latifi and Kevin Magnussen—the latter looking to recover lost mileage at Haas after Antonio Giovinazzi’s crash in the opening session. Behind Leclerc and Bottas, Ricciardo made use of the 2022-spec soft compound en route to P2 and P3 for Alfa Romeo and McLaren, respectively.
Leclerc led the pack of drivers restricted to prescribed runs (which included set stint lengths and fuel loads) on the unmarked Pirelli tyres at the end of practice one, ending up around 1.5s adrift from his benchmark; Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton completed fifth in front of Mick Schumacher’s Haas car.
Lando Norris took sixth in the other McLaren—just missing a wall after a wild slide at pit entry—followed by Red Bull driver Max Verstappen and Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton.”
AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez were the final drivers to lap under the 1m 40s barrier in ninth and 10th, respectively, with Magnussen, as mentioned earlier, placing 11th in his repaired VF-22.
George Russell was almost a second down on teammate Hamilton in 13th, splitting the other AlphaTauri and Alfa Romeo machines of Yuki Tsunoda and Zhou Guanyu, with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll dropping from P4 in FP1 to P15 in FP2.\
The Alpine team had a strong showing today, with drivers Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso finishing 16th and 17th. At the back of the field, Williams drivers Alex Albon and Lando Norris ran side-by-side with Sebastian Vettel’s Aston Martin DTM.
FORMULA 1 ARAMCO UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX 2022
Practice 2 results
| Cla | Driver | Chassis | Laps | Time | Gap | Interval | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Charles Leclerc |
 |
Ferrari | 37 | 1’36.810 | ||
| 2 |  Valtteri Bottas |
 |
Alfa Romeo | 37 | 1’37.525 | 0.715 | 0.715 |
| 3 |  Daniel Ricciardo |
 |
McLaren | 40 | 1’37.627 | 0.817 | 0.102 |
| 4 |  Carlos Sainz |
 |
Ferrari | 26 | 1’38.232 | 1.422 | 0.605 |
| 5 |  Mick Schumacher |
 |
Haas | 26 | 1’39.507 | 2.697 | 1.275 |
| 6 |  Lando Norris |
 |
McLaren | 26 | 1’39.547 | 2.737 | 0.040 |
| 7 |  Max Verstappen |
 |
Red Bull | 26 | 1’39.575 | 2.765 | 0.028 |
| 8 | Lewis Hamilton |
 |
Mercedes | 26 | 1’39.698 | 2.888 | 0.123 |
| 9 |  Pierre Gasly |
 |
AlphaTauri | 26 | 1’39.840 | 3.030 | 0.142 |
| 10 |  Sergio Perez |
 |
Red Bull | 26 | 1’39.852 | 3.042 | 0.012 |
| 11 |  Kevin Magnussen |
 |
Haas | 24 | 1’40.084 | 3.274 | 0.232 |
| 12 |  Yuki Tsunoda |
 |
AlphaTauri | 26 | 1’40.178 | 3.368 | 0.094 |
| 13 | George Russell |
|
Mercedes | 26 | 1’40.562 | 3.752 | 0.384 |
| 14 |  Zhou Guanyu |
|
Alfa Romeo | 26 | 1’40.664 | 3.854 | 0.102 |
| 15 |  Lance Stroll |
 |
Aston Martin | 26 | 1’40.806 | 3.996 | 0.142 |
| 16 | Esteban Ocon |
 |
Alpine | 26 | 1’41.310 | 4.500 | 0.504 |
| 17 | Fernando Alonso |
 |
Alpine | 26 | 1’41.334 | 4.524 | 0.024 |
| 18 |  Alex Albon |
 |
Williams | 26 | 1’41.853 | 5.043 | 0.519 |
| 19 | Sebastian Vettel |
 |
Aston Martin | 26 | 1’41.857 | 5.047 | 0.004 |
| 20 | Nicholas Latifi |
 |
Williams | 26 | 1’42.317 | 5.507 | 0.460 |
Source: Autosport
Pirelli’s tyre test included the lower tyre blanket temperatures mandated for 2023 – 50°C, down from the current level of 70°C, and ahead of a planned ban on tyre warmers to come in for 2024.
This could well have been a factor in the high number of mistakes witnessed during FP2 on Friday, with several drivers having lurid slides exiting corners on the tweaked tyres for next year, which are understood to have more subtle design changes than any wholesale adjustment from Pirelli.
These tweaks include ensuring the 2023 tyres do not have the understeer characteristic through the slow speed that the drivers have not enjoyed on the current variety.
Fernando Alonso had a big snap out of Turn 1 – the uphill left-hand hairpin at the start of the Austin lap – and Turn 11, running onto the back straight.
Hamilton and Norris slide off with dramatic slides coming through the fast, downhill left that forms the penultimate corner – with the latter also sliding wildly into the pits during the early stages.
At one point, Sainz described his running on the prototype tyres as “Tokyo drift”.
The 17 drivers running just the prototypes had their running capped at 26 laps after the four runs required by Pirelli, while Leclerc (37), Bottas (37) and Ricciardo (40) racked up more.
Free Practice 3 begins at 1400 local time on Saturday before qualifying at 1700.
