F1 United States GP: Friday schedule, weather forecast and how to watch

Formula 1 heads to Austin this weekend for the United States Grand Prix, with Kimi Antonelli arriving at the Circuit of the Americas with his first opportunity to clinch the 2026 world championship.

The Mercedes driver holds a 102-point advantage over team-mate George Russell with six grands prix remaining. Antonelli needs to outscore Russell by 23 points in Austin to secure his first Formula 1 title, meaning victory combined with Russell finishing ninth would be enough.

Max Verstappen arrives as perhaps the biggest threat to Mercedes after Red Bull’s dramatic resurgence. Verstappen won at Sepang before taking both the sprint and grand prix victories in Singapore, and has now finished on the podium in seven of the last eight grands prix.

McLaren, meanwhile, is looking to reverse a recent slide after going without a podium across the Azerbaijan, Bahrain GP in Malaysia and Singapore weekends. Austin also marks a return to Formula 1’s traditional grand prix format after the Singapore sprint weekend, giving teams three practice sessions at Circuit of the Americas.

Friday brings free practice 1 followed by free practice 2 later in the afternoon. Here is everything you need to know ahead of Friday’s running at the United States GP.

Formula 1Five things to watch out for at the F1 United States GP

Broadcast coverage of Formula 1 varies by region. In the United States, Apple TV is the primary broadcast partner for the 2026 season, with all sessions available on the platform following a multi-year deal. F1 TV remains the series’ global subscription streaming service.

For viewers in the United Kingdom, Sky Sports continues as the championship’s exclusive broadcaster, showing every session live throughout the 2026 season. F1 coverage can also be streamed via Sky Go or NOW, with highlights available free-to-air on Channel 4.

Friday, October 23 — free practice 1 — 12:30pm CDT

Friday, October 23 — free practice 2 — 4:00pm CDT

Friday, October 23 — free practice 1 — 6:30pm BST

Friday, October 23 — free practice 2 — 10:00pm BST

For US Eastern Time viewers:

Friday, October 23 — free practice 1 — 1:30pm ET

Friday, October 23 — free practice 2 — 5:00pm ET

All times local to Austin:

Friday is expected to be hot and mostly sunny in Austin, with some scattered clouds and temperatures reaching around 30C.

The chance of rain is very low at around 3%, so teams should have dry conditions for both practice sessions. Light to moderate winds and relatively high track temperatures could instead put the focus on tyre behaviour and thermal degradation.

Saturday is expected to remain warm and dry, with temperatures around 30C and less than a 10% chance of rain for final practice and qualifying.

Sunday should be slightly cooler for the United States Grand Prix, with temperatures around 28-29C and a very low chance of rain.

Circuit of the Americas combines significant elevation changes with high-speed direction changes, heavy braking zones and a famously steep climb into Turn 1. Its opening sector takes inspiration from Silverstone’s Maggots-Becketts-Chapel complex, while the circuit’s bumps remain an additional set-up challenge.

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