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Leclerc fastest in United States Grand Prix second practice

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Ferrari's Charles Leclerc with a massive cowboy hat in the background during US Grand Prix practice

11. Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi)

12. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)

13. Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls)

14. Esteban Ocon (Haas)

15. Franco Colapinto (Alpine)

16. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

17. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

18. Nico Hulkenberg (Audi)

19. Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac)

20. Carlos Sainz (Williams)

21. Sergio Perez (Cadillac)

22. Alex Albon (Williams)

The medium tyre is bolted on for Max Verstappen, George Russell, Kimi Antonelli and Isack Hadjar, while Lando Norris in fifth has the hard compound on in the opening minutes of FP2.

Antonelli calls his race engineer Pete Bonnington. "The seat is moving like crazy," says the championship leader. Bono says he can do another run and the team can fix it shortly, which the Italian agrees to.

Maybe he should've come in straight away, though, as he's just been pinged for track limits and had his lap time deleted.

Kimi Antonelli's Mercedes is pushed into the pits in Austin
Getty Images
Max Verstappen
Image source, Getty Images

The drivers could be in for a bumpy ride around the Circuit of the Americas this weekend.

Four-time world champion Max Verstappen said on Thursday he loves this track and the layout, and he also loves being in Austin, however, the rough nature of the circuit leaves a lot to be desired.

"For me the bumps are unacceptable. Over time they've been grinding a little bit here and there but it's just putting a plaster on the big problem," said the Dutchman.

"But that of course means you need to really fully open up the track. That costs a lot of money and time but that's the only way to get rid of it because these bumps are not natural and they are out of control."

Lumps and bumps aside, Verstappen is aiming for a third consecutive victory on Sunday following his wins in Singapore and the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia. He;s also made the podium in the past five grands prix, too.

Kimi Antonelli
Image source, Getty Images

Kimi Antonelli has cut a relaxed figure in the paddock so far but the hard work on the road to getting his hands on the 2026 title starts today.

The Italian isn't letting the pressure get to him, though, and he intends to keep the weekend as light-hearted as possible.

"It's crazy if you think about it, but that's why I won't think about it," Antonelli said on his chances of lifting the championship as early as Austin.

"Something catastrophic to others needs to happen for me to become (champion). For me, needs to be a perfect weekend and to the others they need to do a poor result, which is unlikely to happen.

"Everything, anything can happen. But as I said, you know, we had a meeting with 'Bono' (race engineer Peter Bonnington) this morning and we just said: 'Just have fun.' Just always the same mindset as I had all year, one race at a time."

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