Leclerc Leads Antonelli and Verstappen in United States GP FP2

Charles Leclerc led second practice for the 2026 United States Grand Prix, finishing 0.042 seconds ahead of Kimi Antonelli as Max Verstappen completed the top three at the Circuit of The Americas. The Ferrari driver stayed unbeaten after the chequered flag in a busy Texas session that included deleted laps, track-limits offences and several uncomfortable moments for drivers.

The second hour of practice gave teams a further opportunity to work through their programmes under the Texas sun, with the pit-lane light turning green at 1600 local time. Pierre Gasly led the early queue onto the circuit, while Sergio Perez returned to the Cadillac after Colton Herta had driven in the first practice session.

Leclerc’s narrow margin over Antonelli set the headline order, but the session also left a tightly packed leading group. Verstappen was third, followed by Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, while Liam Lawson took sixth for Racing Bulls. McLaren pair Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri finished seventh and eighth, with Isack Hadjar and Ollie Bearman rounding out the top 10.

Early benchmarks and track-limits disruptions

Verstappen continued the form he had shown earlier in the day by setting an initial benchmark of 1m 36.581s on medium tyres. Hamilton’s first effort came on the hard compound and put him nearly seven-tenths behind Verstappen, but that time was soon deleted after he exceeded track limits.

Track limits were a recurring issue. Hadjar and Antonelli also had laps discounted, with Antonelli reporting problems with his seat. Hadjar, meanwhile, said he was unable to close his visor properly, describing the issue as a distraction during his early running.

As drivers began to challenge Verstappen’s opening mark, Russell moved to the top of the timesheets with a three-tenths advantage over Norris. Verstappen then reclaimed first place, while Norris abandoned an attempt to displace him after a snap of oversteer and returned to the pits in third.

Antonelli subsequently improved to third behind Russell. During that phase of the session, Russell was under investigation for forcing Leclerc off the track and had been shown the black-and-white flag for the incident. The stewards later ruled that no further action was required.

The order shifted again when most of the field returned for qualifying-simulation runs on the red-walled soft tyre. Leclerc used that phase to move into first, while Russell and Hadjar were among those again caught out by track limits. Hadjar later criticised his RB22 as “disgusting” as degradation began to affect his running.

Norris also locked up and ran off the circuit, while Russell had a significant moment on another flying lap. Neither Norris nor Piastri was happy with the handling of their McLarens, despite both ending the session inside the top eight.

Friday running completed ahead of qualifying preparations

With around 20 minutes remaining, teams turned their focus to longer runs to complete Friday’s work. That switch effectively preserved Leclerc’s slender advantage at the front, and Antonelli could not improve beyond second place, just 0.042s behind the Ferrari.

Behind the top 10, Gabriel Bortoleto was 11th for Audi, ahead of Gasly, Arvid Lindblad, Esteban Ocon, Franco Colapinto, Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll, Nico Hulkenberg, Valtteri Bottas, Carlos Sainz, Perez and Alex Albon.

The FP2 result gives Leclerc an encouraging start to the weekend, but the margins at the front remained narrow and the session underlined the importance of clean laps at COTA. Teams and drivers will review their Friday data before Free Practice 3 at 1230 local time on Saturday, with qualifying scheduled for 1600.