Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton has gone fastest in the second free practice session at Austin using the ultrasoft tyre, ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen, following a morning FP1 session that started in damp conditions. This meant that all the drivers began the day's action using the intermediates (with just one car selecting the wets) before moving onto the slicks for the second half of FP1 and the whole of FP2.

The drivers were able to test a prototype softer intermediate compound in the morning. Data has now to be analysed. These tyres used an unaltered construction.

Hamilton's fastest lap on the ultrasofts in FP2 was also the fastest-ever lap of the Circuit of the Americas, beating the previous benchmark, which was his own pole from last year.

Mario Isola: "It was very much a day of contrasts in Austin, with damp weather in FP1 followed by warmer weather in the afternoon. And of course, one of the biggest contrasts was our pink ultrasoft tyres, compared to their usual purple colour, which certainly attracted a lot of attention!

"The varying conditions today meant that it was quite hard to obtain consistent data, but we saw the fastest-ever lap of Austin set in FP2 using the ultrasoft despite a tricky FP1. This morning we tried out a prototype intermediate compound, which was softer than the current compound, but with the same construction. There are still some questions to be answered about how all the compounds interact with the track this weekend."

Check out our Friday gallery from Austin, here.