As was expected, rain was the main protagonist in the first day of free practice sessions at the Circuit of the Americas. The Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team drivers, Marcus Ericsson and Charles Leclerc, went out on track with intermediate tyres in FP1, completing a total of 14 laps each in preparation for the race weekend that, according to the weather forecast, will continue to be characterised by tricky weather conditions with rain expected on Saturday paired with the possibility of a dry race.

Heavy showers made the second free practice even more challenging, with Marcus Ericsson and Charles Leclerc each completing eight laps on intermediate tyres, and one lap on the wet compound.

The team remains optimistic looking at the rest of the weekend, as the good performance shown in the past few weeks was reflected in their upper midfield results today. The drivers finished FP1 in P9 (Leclerc) and P10 (Ericsson), and FP2 in P7 (Ericsson) and P11 (Leclerc).

Marcus Ericsson: "I usually like driving in wet conditions and today the car felt good to drive, and that gave me confidence to push during the sessions. In the end, we could do some laps with proper running, even if I would have liked to do some more laps but we have to manage the tyres we have available per session. All in all, I was comfortable and I wouldn't mind if the conditions continue to be the same tomorrow."

Charles Leclerc: "It was a positive day despite the difficult weather conditions. I hope to get some more mileage in the rain tomorrow to start feeling fully comfortable driving in this type of condition. We will see what is possible, and I look forward to being back in the car."

Check out our Friday gallery from COTA, here.