Nico Rosberg (GER) Mercedes AMG F1 at Formula One World Championship, Rd16, United States Grand Prix, Practice, Austin, Texas, USA, Friday 23 October 2015. © Sutton Motorsport Images
Mercedes
Nico Rosberg, 1m 53.989s, P1
Lewis Hamilton, 1m 55.693s, P5
Rosberg got straight down to business with the fastest time, then improved on that. Hamilton elected to save his tyres, doing only four laps.
Red Bull
Daniil Kvyat, 1m 55.224s, P2
Daniel Ricciardo, 1m 55.592s, P3
Celebrating their 200th race, Red Bull had their drivers in second and third places in FP1. Kvyat threatened to bring his laptop and some CDs if it rains tomorrow, while Ricciardo said the weather must be good for the local farmers.
Toro Rosso
Carlos Sainz Jnr, 1m 55.667s, P4
Max Verstappen, 1m 55.969s, P7
No problems for either driver. Sainz was delighted to be fourth quickest on his first visit to Austin, while Verstappen said the STR10 coped well with the slick surface.
Sebastian Vettel (GER) Ferrari SF15-T at Formula One World Championship, Rd16, United States Grand Prix, Practice, Austin, Texas, USA, Friday 23 October 2015. © Sutton Motorsport Images
Ferrari
Sebastian Vettel, 1m 55.710s P6
Kimi Raikkonen, 1m 56.326s, P8
Both drivers admitted there was little to be learnt from Friday’s running. Both cars will run new engines on Saturday, and as a result both drivers will go into the race with 10-place grid penalties.
Williams
Felipe Massa, 1m 57.081s, P10
Valtteri Bottas, 1m 57.318s, P12
Williams tried various set-ups. Massa had a minor spin at Turn 9, while Bottas - who nearly knocked down his mechanics coming into the pits at one point - reported some front tyre graining.
McLaren
Fernando Alonso, 1m 56.839s, P9
Jenson Button, 1m 57.495s, P13
McLaren did some brief aero evaluations, with Alonso running the new Specification 4 power unit, Button the old Specification 3. The Spaniard admitted conditions made it hard to evaluate the new hardware.
Raffaele Marciello (ITA) Sauber Test and Reserve Driver at Formula One World Championship, Rd16, United States Grand Prix, Practice, Austin, Texas, USA, Friday 23 September 2015. © Sutton Motorsport Images
Force India
Sergio Perez, 1m 57.139s, P11
Nico Hulkenberg, 1m 57.518s P14
No problems were reported, but Perez said his main concern was for what was happening to his countrymen as Hurricane Patricia wrought havoc in Mexico.
Lotus
Romain Grosjean, 1m 58.319s, P15
Pastor Maldonado, No time, P20
Grosjean ran both full wets and intermediates in FP1; Maldonado didn’t get a timed lap as his gearbox kept selecting neutral.
Sauber
Raffaele Marciello, 1m 59.431s, P16
Marcus Ericsson, 1m 59.743s, P17
Ericsson and Marciello (subbing in FP1 for Nasr) set the initial pace as Sauber prepared for their 400th race, before falling back as others ran as the conditions improved slightly and they stopped running.
Marussia
Alexander Rossi, 2m 01.154s, P18
Will Stevens, 2m 01.907s, P19
Neither driver reported any mechanical problems, but Rossi admitted it was frustrating to spend so much time on the sidelines during his first home race weekend.
