Charles Leclerc leads Pirelli testing, Álex Palou makes his Formula 1 debut and Fernando Alonso changes engine

Charles Leclerc led a lackluster free practice session in Austin as the teams were busy testing Pirelli's new tires for 2023. Rain in Japan prevented testing from getting there, so they moved to the United States. United. Leclerc stopped the clock in 1:36.810 .

The big news of the day was  the debut of Álex Palou in Formula 1 . The Spanish driver got into the McLaren during FP1 and conveyed very good feelings, while leaving a sly radio. Palou stayed pretty close to Lando Norris on the medium tire, although he didn't have a soft setting for a while.

Sergio Pérez, Charles Leclerc, Fernando Alonso and Guanyu Zhou face grid penalties

The FP2 times in Austin are very insignificant, considering that only regular riders who did not participate in FP1 had a few minutes of racing with the 2022 tires. That's why  Leclerc was the fastest, Valtteri Bottas the second and Daniel Ricciardo third . They had this advantage.

In the morning, when they ran on the tires the race will be on,  the fastest was Carlos Sainz , showing that Ferrari is ready to achieve another pole position in Austin, albeit after winning the race be a very different story. In addition, there will be modifications to the grill.

Several drivers will change parts of their engine on this circuit, which will lead them to be penalized on the starting grid. One of them, by surprise,  Sergio Pérez, who will fit the latest version of the Honda engine  so as not to have to penalize next week at home in Mexico.

Another of those who will make changes to his engine is  Charles Leclerc, who will fit the final power unit  of the season and possibly also predict a penalty for Sainz in Mexico. In any case, the fact that Leclerc is not in the fight for pole opens the way for Sainz to achieve the third of the year.

Fernando Alonso was not so lucky  , who will have to assemble a new unit of his Alpine  in Austin, so he will have to start very late. Too bad, because the Spaniard was competitive in free practice. The fourth driver to make his thruster debut is China's Guanyu Zhou of Alfa Romeo.

For all of those, Max Verstappen had a quiet but daunting day, finishing just two-tenths behind Sainz in the morning, while Lewis Hamilton was third. With so many penalties and on a circuit he loves, this may be  Hamilton's last chance to win a race  this year.

Results FP1 Formula 1 United States GP 2022