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Antonio Giovinazzi topped opening practice for the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship’s Lone Star Le Mans on Friday, leading a Ferrari one-two in the Hypercar class as heat emerged as an immediate factor at Austin.
Driving the No. 51 factory Ferrari 499P, Giovinazzi set the session’s fastest lap in 1m53.824s. He was 0.205 seconds clear of Antonio Fuoco in the sister No. 50 Ferrari, giving the Italian manufacturer the strongest opening statement of the session.
Temperatures were already close to 30°C during FP1, with similarly hot conditions expected throughout the weekend. Drivers indicated on Thursday that the heat could make double-stinting difficult. Reduced usable energy is also expected to shorten stint lengths in Sunday’s six-hour race, potentially creating an additional pit stop and adding another strategic variable to the event. The wider context for the weekend is covered in Lone Star Le Mans: WEC title fight resumes at COTA with six-hour showdown.
Jules Gounon placed the No. 36 Alpine A424 third, almost four-tenths of a second off Giovinazzi’s benchmark and 0.098s ahead of the No. 8 Toyota. The No. 35 Alpine followed, narrowly ahead of Nyck de Vries in the No. 7 Toyota.
De Vries triggered a brief Full Course Yellow after an off-track excursion, but Toyota still placed both cars inside the top six. The No. 38 Cadillac Jota was the fastest of the two Cadillac entries in seventh, 0.6s from the lead, ahead of the No. 009 Aston Martin and No. 19 Genesis. The Genesis was among the few cars to record its quickest time on hard tyres.
The No. 94 Peugeot moved into the top 10 late in the session at the expense of the No. 83 AF Corse Ferrari. AF Corse ended 0.949s off the pace while using a mixed set of medium and hard tyres. BMW’s Hypercar entries were 15th and 17th, more than a second behind, although differing fuel loads, tyre choices and set-up programmes made direct comparisons premature.
Tom Fleming set the LMGT3 pace for Garage 59 with a 2m06.016s lap in the No. 58 McLaren. Maxime Martin’s No. 61 Iron Lynx Mercedes was 0.277s behind, while the No. 10 McLaren completed the top three.
The No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari and No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin completed the top five. The Ferrari was required to serve a five-minute pit stop after repeated track-limits infringements. All 10 leading LMGT3 cars were covered by 1.4s, while Manthey Porsche and WRT BMW remained outside the top 10.
Free Practice 2 is scheduled for 4pm local time, or 11pm CET.
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