Charles Leclerc made an encouraging start to the 2026 United States Grand Prix weekend by setting the fastest time in FP1 at Austin, with Ferrari’s new SF-26 upgrade package fitted to his car. The Monegasque finished the opening practice session at the top of the timesheets with a 1:36.052, while teammate Lewis Hamilton took sixth place, 0.635 seconds behind, as Ferrari carried out a direct comparison between different aerodynamic specifications.
The result represents a positive first indication for the Maranello team, which has introduced its final major development package of the 2026 season at the Circuit of The Americas. However, Ferrari’s opening practice programme was focused on gathering information as much as outright lap times, with only Charles Leclerc running the complete new package while Lewis Hamilton continued with the previous specification.
Charles Leclerc tops Austin FP1 with Ferrari’s new SF-26 upgrades
The United States Grand Prix weekend is particularly important for Ferrari because of the aerodynamic developments introduced on the SF-26. The engineers have revised several areas of the car, with the most significant modifications concentrated around the floor. The sidepods and diffuser have also been changed as part of an interconnected development package intended to improve aerodynamic performance.
Both drivers sought to manage expectations when discussing the upgrades on Thursday, although Autoracer.it estimated that the new components could deliver an improvement of approximately one and a half tenths of a second per lap.
That potential gain still needs to be demonstrated on track. The changes could also widen the SF-26’s operating window, allowing the car to deliver more consistent performance across different conditions and potentially producing a greater overall benefit than the estimated lap-time improvement alone. Equally, the modifications could prove less effective than anticipated once evaluated in competitive running.
Ferrari’s approach to FP1 was therefore designed to provide a meaningful initial assessment of the SF-26 aerodynamic upgrades introduced for Austin, rather than simply concentrating on finishing the session at the top.
Ferrari compares Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton’s car specifications
Ferrari decided to split its practice programme, running the new package exclusively on Charles Leclerc’s car while Lewis Hamilton provided a reference with the earlier configuration. Both drivers began the session using medium-compound tyres.
After their second flying laps, Lewis Hamilton occupied first place, with an advantage of approximately two tenths over Charles Leclerc and five tenths over Lando Norris in the McLaren.
On his next attempt, Charles Leclerc found almost seven tenths of a second, moving ahead of his teammate and into first position. Lewis Hamilton also improved on his final attempt, reducing the gap between the two Ferrari drivers to approximately seven hundredths of a second.
Charles Leclerc completed one further flying lap at the end of the opening stint but narrowly failed to improve, missing his previous best by just nine thousandths of a second. Both Ferrari drivers subsequently returned to the pits.
The comparison was particularly valuable because the team was collecting information from two different aerodynamic configurations under the same track conditions. However, the evolving lap times also reflected the normal progression of a practice session, meaning the differences between the drivers could not be attributed exclusively to the upgrades.
Soft-tyre runs put Charles Leclerc first and Lewis Hamilton fourth
Approximately half an hour into FP1, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton returned to the Circuit of The Americas, this time equipped with soft-compound tyres.
Charles Leclerc improved on his first flying lap with the softer compound, recording a 1:36.052 to consolidate his position at the top of the classification. Lewis Hamilton was fourth at that stage, approximately six tenths behind his teammate.
Neither driver improved on the following attempt, and both subsequently returned to the garage. The different runs ultimately left Charles Leclerc fastest overall and Lewis Hamilton sixth, with a final gap of 0.635 seconds between the two Ferrari drivers.
Although the headline result was encouraging for the upgraded SF-26, the team’s test programme extended beyond qualifying-style laps. Ferrari also wanted to understand how the revised aerodynamic package behaved over a sequence of laps, providing an initial indication of its consistency.
Charles Leclerc’s medium-tyre race simulation offers further encouragement
During the final part of the session, Charles Leclerc completed a short race simulation using the medium-compound tyres previously fitted during the opening stint.
The run produced positive indications, giving Ferrari another encouraging reference beyond the single-lap pace demonstrated earlier in FP1. Sustained performance is an important part of evaluating the updates, particularly if the changes improve the SF-26’s operating window rather than simply delivering greater peak aerodynamic performance.
Lewis Hamilton followed a different programme, returning to the circuit on the same set of soft tyres used during his previous stint. His run contained too few laps to allow a meaningful assessment of race performance, although the seven-time world champion demonstrated encouraging pace by improving progressively from lap to lap.
The two programmes provided Ferrari with different sets of information, with Charles Leclerc’s medium-tyre running offering the more useful early indication of sustained performance. The drivers’ practice and long-run comparisons can be explored through the F1 Practice and Long-Run Analysis tool, which provides additional context for lap times and tyre-compound performance.
Ferrari sees positive first signs, but FP2 will be the bigger test
Ferrari’s opening session in Austin was undoubtedly encouraging. Charles Leclerc finished fastest, the upgraded SF-26 completed its initial running without any particularly significant problems, and the early race simulation offered further positive indications.
Nevertheless, there is still considerable reason for caution. Ferrari has started several weekends strongly during the 2026 season, only to struggle to maintain the same competitive level as the event progressed. Various factors have prevented the team from consistently converting promising early practice results into equally strong performances later in the weekend.
The initial assessment of the new package is therefore favourable, but one practice session is insufficient to determine whether Ferrari has made a substantial step forward relative to its rivals.
FP2 should provide a clearer indication of the SF-26’s competitiveness and the effectiveness of the latest developments, particularly once the team has gathered additional information from the new aerodynamic configuration.
For now, Charles Leclerc’s fastest lap and the encouraging signs from Ferrari’s upgrade comparison represent a promising beginning to the United States Grand Prix weekend. The challenge will be maintaining that performance as the team continues its preparations for qualifying and the race.
Further details about the weekend’s running can be found in the 2026 United States Grand Prix schedule and Circuit of The Americas guide.
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