Leclerc leads Antonelli by 0.042 seconds in US GP practice

Charles Leclerc set the fastest time in second practice for the United States Grand Prix, leading Kimi Antonelli by 0.042 seconds at Circuit of The Americas on Friday. Max Verstappen was third, 0.189 seconds behind Leclerc, in a session that left the three drivers from Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull at the front of the timesheets. Leclerc’s benchmark was 1:35.291. Lewis Hamilton finished fourth, 0.615 seconds off his Ferrari teammate, and George Russell was fifth, 0.744 seconds back. Liam Lawson placed sixth for Racing Bulls, ahead of McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in seventh and eighth. The order followed a session in which drivers first tested on different tyre compounds before moving to soft-tyre qualifying simulations and longer runs. Track grip continued to improve, and Antonelli completed his fastest lap later than Leclerc. That means the narrow gap does not, by itself, establish how the cars would compare under identical conditions. Fuel loads and team run plans were also not known, limiting what the practice times can show about qualifying or the race. Ferrari had also led the opening practice session, with Leclerc fastest there as well. In FP2,...