United States GP: Charles Leclerc fastest in upgraded Ferrari in first practice in Austin as Mercedes rivals introduce updates

Charles Leclerc showed early promise in an upgraded Ferrari car to pip Red Bull's in-form Max Verstappen to the fastest time of first practice at the United States Grand Prix. <p>Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull all introduced fresh revisions to their cars for the opening hour of running at the Circuit of the Americas, which is staging the first leg of the sport's second of three end-of-season triple headers.</p><p>Ferrari's package features changes to their car's floor, sidepod and diffuser and showed speed on both the medium and soft tyres around the undulating COTA lap, with Leclerc ultimately setting the session's pace on the latter with a best lap of 1:36.052.</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/13599576/united-states-gp-2026-dates-schedule-austin-weather-uk-start-time-and-how-to-watch-or-stream-f1-race-at-cota-live-on-sky-sports"><strong>United States GP: UK schedule and how to watch on Sky Sports</strong></a></li><li><strong><a href="https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/13597654/kimi-antonelli-f1-title-permutations-how-mercedes-driver-could-clinch-world-championship-at-united-states-gp">How Kimi Antonelli can win F1 world title at US GP</a></strong></li><li><strong><a href="https://www.skysports.com/f1/schedule-results">F1 2026 Calendar</a> | <a href="https://www.skysports.com/f1/standings">F1 2026 Standings</a> | <a href="https://www.skysports.com/f1/live-blog/12433/12466779/f1-news-rumours-and-gossip-formula-1-latest-updates-on-teams-driver-transfer-market-and-contracts">F1 Gossip Column</a></strong></li><li><a href="https://qrcode.skysports.com/skysports/F1articlespushpromo" target="_blank"><strong>Got the Sky…