FP2: Perez tops afternoon practice, Hamilton loses benchmark for track limits

After a Mercedes-dominated opening session, Red Bull bounced back in the afternoon practice for the United States Grand Prix as Sergio Perez set the benchmark. Reigning champion Lewis Hamilton posted the fastest lap of the session, but he lost his benchmark due to track limits infringments.

While the top drivers used two sets of soft tyres in the opening practice for the United States Grand Prix, the tyre selection has changed for the second session. The favourite tyre choice was the medium for the first stint and the soft for the second one.

The Red Bull and Mercedes duos were neck and neck on the yellow-walled compound with Sergio Perez setting the benchmark on the C3 compound. When drivers started to head out on to the track on the soft compound for their qualifying simulation, Lewis Hamilton quickly set the best time of the session, albeit he had his benchmark deleted for track limits infringements. That left Sergio Perez on the top of the session with Hamilton failing to repeat his first time on his second push lap.

Max Verstappen fell foul of traffic during his qualifying simulation run. The Dutchman set the fastest time in the first sector of the COTA track, but he was impeded on several occasions. In the end, he noted his team on the radio in frustrated mood that he would abort his qualifying session due to the heavy traffic on the track. That left the championship leader in P8.

Perez eventually finished 0.257s ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris with the Briton’s team mate Daniel Ricciardo taking 5th. Ferrari was strong on the medium compound, but was less so on the soft rubber with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz ending up 7th and 9th fastest.

The surprise team from Free Practice 1, Alfa Romeo continued to impress in the afternoon. Antonio Giovinazzi took 10th with Kimi Räikkönen setting the 14th fastest lap.

AlphaTauri had a more challenging afternoon with Pierre Gasly finishing down in P12. His team mate Yuki Tsunoda had a flying lap deleted and finished 16th for AlphaTauri, leaving Mick Schumacher 17th for home team Haas. Next up was Williams’ Nicholas Latifi in 18th and his team mate George Russell in P19 while Haas’s Nikita Mazepin rounded out the timing sheets.