The United States Grand Prix is taking place in Austin, Texas.
Sainz led Verstappen by 0.224 seconds in the first session.
As the team assessed a car upgrade, Lewis Hamilton was third, 0.475 seconds off the pace.
Leclerc ran as a test to assess 2023 tires.
The Mercedes' new parts include a new front wing and floor design.
He said everything went according to plan. Everyone at the factory worked so hard to bring us an upgrade for this weekend.
The car made me feel better. I feel like we're not too far away from everyone.
Verstappen said he was happy with the Red Bull.
He said that they tried a few things with the car and then they were there.
The car was in a good window and we have some information from P1. The long run is more of a question mark because we all missed P2, but I think it's going to be okay.
One of the few drivers to be able to run this year's tyres for some of the second session because he did not take part in the first was Charles Leclerc.
In the first session at the Circuit of the Americas, Lance Stroll was fourth, ahead of Red Bull'sSergio Perez and Fernando Alonso.
Mercedes driver George Russell was seventh fastest.
In the second session, Alfa Romeo's Valtteri Bottas and McLaren's Daniel Ricciardo were second and third fastest, with times set on the 2022 tires. Sainz was the fastest on the development tires.
Perez will have a five-place grid penalty for the race because he exceeded his allowed engine parts by taking a new internal combustion engine. Zhou is in the same situation.
The first session was characterized by a number of teams running non-regular drivers as they comply with the requirement to devote two first practice sessions to give opportunities to F1 hopefuls.
Russian-Israeli Robert Schwatzman was 16th in for Charles Leclerc at Ferrari, followed by Alex Palou in Daniel Ricciardo's McLaren, and Theo Pourchaire in the Alfa Romeo.
Antonio Giovinazzi crashed on his second lap and was unable to take part in the rest of the session, effectively ending his chances of getting a drive at Haas next year.
Kevin Magnussen had an Italian driver drive his car. The two ex-F1 drivers are competing for the same seat in the same team.
The weekend has been dominated by rumors that Red Bull is in violation of the budget cap.
Red Bull has been offered an accepted breach agreement by the governing body of the sport, which is an admission of guilt and a penalty.
Red Bull has not yet said if they will accept the ABA or fight the position.
The team boss met the president of the organization. Red Bull said there was still no resolution after the talks ended.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
