Mercedes dominate practice in USA as Haas struggle at home - Mixed results on Free Practice Friday
Published by Christine
Hamilton was fastest in the first session, as both Mercedes drivers were well ahead of the field. Daniel Ricciardo managed to break into their dominance a little in the afternoon, however, splitting the pair, with Rosberg finishing on top.
Sebastian Vettel had a difficult morning, waging war on the kerbs and coming off worst – he had to drive a lap essentially one-handed as he struggled to stop his wing mirror falling off.
Both the Haas drivers were finding things tricky at the team’s home race. In FP1 they were both pushed back into the garage manually after stopping at the end of the pitlane. In FP2, Grosjean was down on pace, whilst Gutiérrez’s car was shedding debris out on track that caused a red flag whilst the marshals cleaned up the mess.
Jordan King made his debut in the first session, driving for Manor in place of Wehrlein. In the afternoon, Esteban Ocon spun his Manor into the gravel but managed to recover it to continue onwards.
