The Circuit of the Americas hosted the opening two free practice sessions of the day on Friday (local time) where drivers needed to navigate changing track conditions. When the first session got underway, the track itself was wet calling for the use of the Pirelli intermediate tyre.
However it didn't take long for the track to dry out with the twenty cars all pounding their way around it and they were soon able to switch to complete laps on super soft tyres.
It was a good session for Max Verstappen, who had recently announced a new contract extension with the team, and he finished FP1 in fourth place overall after running a total of 21 laps around the Texas track.
For FP2, the conditions were clear and the Dutch driver set his fastest laps using the ultra soft tyres, finishing the day P2 with a best time of 1:35.065 after 30ย laps.
"After a challenging year it's a good feeling to sign a new contract and continue this strong relationship. I really believe in the team and they believe in me, we have a great working relationship and they gave me the chance to start a career in Formula One. We have had our ups and downs this year but I still feel really good in the team, you can see they have been working really hard to improve and today shows that we are again competitive,โ he said.
โI enjoy being in this team which is very important for me so that's why I decided to extend my contract. If we can learn from what happened this year I have no doubt that this team can build the best car on the grid and start 2018 competing at the front. I have learnt a lot this year after what has happened, which is definitely positive. Today we showed good pace both in long run simulation and short stints so I think we have the ability to achieve a good result here."
