Hamilton fastest at US Grand Prix practice
AUSTIN, Texas: Formula One championship leader Lewis Hamilton posted the fastest time in Friday’s two practice sessions at the US Grand Prix, but abandoned the second session with about 10 minutes to go to deal with a fluid leak on the cockpit floor.
Afterward, Hamilton seemed confident the problem would be resolved before Saturday qualifying.
“We stopped and pulled the floor up and there was some kind of fluid ... either a fuel leak or an oil leak,” Hamilton said. “I’m not thinking about it. We just lost a little time in the session.”
Hamilton’s fastest lap at the Circuit of the Americas was 1 minute, 39.085 seconds in the afternoon. His Mercedes teammate and title rival Nico Rosberg was .003 seconds behind.
Hamilton is chasing his second world championship. He won the title in 2008 with McLaren and has a 17-point lead over Rosberg with 100 still available in the final three races. The final race in Abu Dhabi will be worth double points, a new system that Hamilton this week questioned as an unfair way to wrap a season-long dual between himself and Rosberg.
Racing against Rosberg is challenging enough. The last thing Hamilton wants to deal with at this late stage in the season is a reliability problem that could cost him points. The only races Hamilton didn’t finish on the podium this season were the three he didn’t finish.
Rosberg seemed to sense an opportunity.
“He had a major problem,” Rosberg said, noting the pressure that continues to mount within the Mercedes team.
“The tension is there for sure,” he said. “It’s a great battle. That’s what I enjoy about racing such a strong teammate. You’re always searching for that little bit extra. It’s going to be three great races coming up.”
Defending race champion Sebastian Vettel’s long season took another expected blow when the FIA ruled he will have to start Sunday’s race from pit lane because he will have to use a new, sixth power unit in his engine, breaking the limit of five.
Vettel had acknowledged the possibility earlier in the week and the FIA confirmed the penalty after Vettel used the new power unit in Friday’s first practice. While Vettel had hinted he might skip qualifying, Red Bull has said he likely will drive the first session but may pit the car after that to save wear and tear. FORT WORTH, Texas: Tony Stewart turned NASCAR’s first 200-mph qualifying lap on an intermediate track Friday. He just did it too soon to win the pole for the Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway.
The top spot went to Matt Kenseth, who had a final-round lap of 199.299 while Stewart slipped to sixth after winning the second round at 200.111 mph on the high-banked 1 1/2mile track.
“To be able to say we’re the first guy on a mile a half to run 200, that’s pretty cool I think,” said Stewart, who is coming off his first top-five finish since March after taking fourth last weekend at Martinsville. “Of course we were trying for the pole, but I missed the corner a little bit.”
Kenseth topped the eight drivers eligible for the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship with a lap that also broke the previous Texas qualifying record of 198.282 set by Kevin Harvick in April.
In fact, there were 44 laps over three rounds that broke Harvick’s previous record. Nine of the 12 in the final round were faster than the April mark.
“It’s crazy fast,” Kenseth said. “It just amazes me every time you qualify here how fast you can go, especially when it cools off a little bit.”
Currently holding the last of the four championship-round spots with two races left before the finale at Homestead, Kenseth was the first driver out in the 5-minute final round. He hit the track with about 3 1/2 minutes to go, and his lap held up.