Ferrari sweeps Friday practice as Leclerc tops both sessions
NXTbets Pro | Published On: October 31, 2026
Ferrari sweep
Ferrari set the pace across Friday’s first two practice sessions, with Charles Leclerc fastest in both runs and the only driver to top more than one session. He opened the day with a 1:18.128 lap in first practice, then went even quicker in second practice with a 1:17.827. That gave Ferrari the kind of control teams want from a Friday, even as the rest of the field shuffled behind it. Kimi Antonelli kept the pressure on in first practice and took second, 0.659 seconds behind Leclerc, while Mercedes reserve Frederik Vesti claimed third. Ferrari was the only team to keep its regular lineup in first practice, a notable contrast on a day that featured 10 rookies in the session. The mix gave the opening hour a different look, but Leclerc still delivered the benchmark. In second practice, George Russell moved up to third, Antonelli finished fourth and Max Verstappen came home fifth. Ferrari’s pace held over the full day because Leclerc kept answering every challenge with the fastest lap, and the team ended Friday with clear momentum in hand.
Practice incidents
Second practice also brought the day’s biggest disruption when contact between Max Verstappen and Liam Lawson sent the session under a red flag and left Verstappen’s Red Bull damaged. The incident interrupted the rhythm at a moment when several drivers were settling into longer runs and pushing for clean laps. Verstappen still managed fifth in the session, but the contact underlined how quickly Friday practice can change for a front-runner. Lewis Hamilton also ran into trouble when a power-unit failure ended his second practice early, and he finished 11th. That left another major name short of a full program and cut into the kind of data teams want before qualifying. The session showed a sharp split between speed and survival. Leclerc stayed on top, Russell and Antonelli stayed close enough to keep Mercedes in the picture and Verstappen was in the mix before the red flag and the damage changed the shape of his run. Hamilton’s stoppage added to the list of setbacks and kept Ferrari’s front-running rivals from building any real pressure on Leclerc’s benchmark. The first two sessions were fast at the front, but they were also crowded with interruptions that kept drivers from settling into a simple run plan.
Rookies and final practice
The broader mix gave Friday a different feel before the final practice session added another layer to the story. Lando Norris topped third practice with a 1:17.600 lap, just 0.001 seconds ahead of Antonelli, while Leclerc again sat near the top in third. Oscar Piastri finished fourth and Isack Hadjar, Lawson and Arvid Lindblad completed the top 10. The session also produced two no-time results. Gabriel Bortoleto did not set a lap because of a power-unit problem, and Sergio Pérez also failed to post a time after a precautionary power-unit change. Ryo Hirakawa finished 19th after replacing Esteban Ocon at Haas. The end result was a Friday that mixed Ferrari control, Mercedes pace, McLaren speed and a long list of mechanical issues that shaped the order as much as the laps did.
