Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton has finished practice at the 2026 United States Grand Prix on top after recording the fastest lap time during FP3, as the grid got ready for qualifying.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc carried the momentum into Saturday at the Circuit of the Americas, after the Monegasque enjoyed a clean sweep across Friday’s sessions ahead of Red Bull star Max Verstappen and Mercedes’ drivers’ champion-elect Andrea Kimi Antonelli, respectively.

A margin of only 0.084s saw Leclerc top FP1 at COTA ahead of Verstappen, who slipped into third place during the second hour of practice in Austin, Texas. Leclerc led FP2 at the United States GP by 0.042s over Antonelli, and the Ferrari racer again set the early pace during FP3.

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While the final practice session at the United States GP got off to a slow start on Saturday at COTA, Ferrari ace Lewis Hamilton set the first representative lap time at the top of the board with his 1:36.716 after a quarter of an hour. Seven-time F1 champion Hamilton and Ferrari’s first priority in FP3 was collecting data, however, with flow-vis paint covering his left sidepod.

McLaren’s Lando Norris briefly moved ahead of Hamilton with a 1:30.066, but lost that time for exceeding track limits at Turn 12 – which was a key theme during both practice sessions on Friday. Staying within the white lines then saw Oscar Piastri put his McLaren MCL40 in P1 on a 1:36.243 on the soft C4 tyres, just for Verstappen to set a 1:35.702 on the medium C3s.

Medium tyres were also enough for Leclerc to slot into P2 after 20 minutes of FP3, but the Ferrari ace also lost his lap time for exceeding track limits in Turn 12 after the back straight.

Hamilton looked set to ensure that Ferrari ended the first half hour on top, though, as soft tyres helped him set a 1:35.561, yet Leclerc instead took P1 on a 1:35.127 on the mediums.

Red Bull star Verstappen had to keep his powder dry during the early exchanges during FP3, however. The Dutchman could not attack as much as he would have wanted, as he told his team over the radio: “Honestly, it’s stupid. It’s so dumb. Why are the [gear] shifts so bad?”

While Antonelli emerged as Ferrari’s main rival after 30 minutes, George Russell was looking to find more pace in the wrong places in his Mercedes. The Briton found himself sharing the track with Haas’ Esteban Ocon and Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg, who had zero interest in waiting so went around the outside at Turn 15 – which Ocon’s race engineer dubbed “unnecessary”.

New soft tyres were then the order of business as the field looked ahead to qualifying, with Antonelli the first front-runner to go for a flying run. The Italian posted new overall bests in sectors one and two, plus a personal best in sector three, to rise into P1 with a 1:35.015 lap. Yet Antonelli’s effort would not count, as he became another victim of track limits in Turn 9.

Russell, however, would only improve to a 1:35.381 and remained behind Leclerc’s medium tyre time. The Briton also soon found himself 0.488s off the pace after his former teammate Hamilton rose to P1 on a 1:34.893 after setting a calmer first sector led to an overall best S2.

Ferrari briefly had a one-two, as well, as Leclerc continued to push and improved his time to 1:34.810, only to lose the effort for exceeding track limits at Turn 10. Leclerc lost the rear of his SF-26 in the left-hand corner rising over the brow of the hill and he slid wide on the exit.

Hamilton’s problems also became traffic in the final stages, as the Ferrari ace came across Audi star Gabriel Bortoleto crawling on the racing line in the braking zone at Turn 12 late on.

Having lost his fastest effort for exceeding track limits earlier in the hour, Mercedes driver Antonelli returned to the track late on with a set of soft C4 tyres to try another push lap. It allowed the Italian to jump his teammate Russell for P4, but he still remained 0.303s adrift.

Verstappen also had late problems as he tried pushing on a used set of soft tyres, as the 29-year-old had a huge lock-up into Turn 15 and left lots of rubber on the road as he burned his tyres pulling away. But it weirdly seemed to only be his left-hand tyre that was smoking.

Red Bull driver Isack Hadjar also found himself caught in a late moment with Williams racer Alex Albon at Turn 1. Hadjar suggested that Albon was “sleeping on the racing line”, but the Frenchman had actually been the one at fault for locking up under braking and going wide.

Full COTA FP3 results at the 2026 F1 United States Grand Prix