Hamilton Tops FP3 at COTA as Ferrari Maintains Edge

Lewis Hamilton topped the final practice session at the Circuit of the Americas, continuing Ferrari's dominant run heading into the United States Grand Prix. The seven-time world champion was the only driver to break the 1m35s barrier, clocking a 1m34.893s to edge out Max Verstappen and teammate Charles Leclerc.

Why it matters:

Ferrari's consistent pace across the practice sessions suggests they have found a superior setup for COTA's demanding layout. With the 2026 technical landscape remaining highly competitive, Ferrari's ability to maintain a gap over Red Bull and Mercedes puts them in a prime position to secure pole position and dictate the race tempo.

The details:

• Top Order: Hamilton led the field, with Verstappen following 0.168s behind and Leclerc in third, 0.234s off the benchmark.
• Track Limit Struggles: Precision was the theme of FP3. Both Charles Leclerc and Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli had potentially leading laps deleted for track limit infringements, highlighting how narrow the margin for error is at COTA.
• Technical Issues: Max Verstappen reported unsettling downshifts in his Red Bull, a concern the team will need to address before qualifying despite his strong second-place finish.
• The Field: Kimi Antonelli and George Russell completed the top five for Mercedes, though the Silver Arrows appeared a fraction short of the outright pace. Oscar Piastri struggled with a tricky MCL40 to finish sixth, while Nico Hulkenberg placed Audi seventh.

What's next:

As the teams move into qualifying, the focus shifts to whether Ferrari can translate this practice dominance into a front-row lockout. For Red Bull, resolving Verstappen's shifting issues will be critical to challenging Hamilton's current momentum.