Last updated: 24 October 2026, 09:08 BST.
United States GP qualifying starts at 10pm BST on Saturday 24 October, after Charles Leclerc ended Friday fastest at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin. The Ferrari driver’s narrow advantage sets up the next competitive test, but Friday’s practice order does not decide the grid.
What Friday actually established
Formula 1’s official second-practice report records Leclerc ahead of Antonelli and Verstappen, with Lewis Hamilton fourth and George Russell fifth. The session included qualifying simulations before teams turned to longer runs.
A 0.042-second gap is a small separation on that timesheet. It is not proof that Ferrari and Mercedes will remain that close when the qualifying session determines starting positions. Practice gives teams a chance to prepare and compare; the result that matters for the grid is still to come.
United States GP qualifying and race times in Britain
| Session | UK date and time |
|---|---|
| Final practice | Saturday 24 October, 6.30pm BST |
| Qualifying | Saturday 24 October, 10pm BST |
| Grand Prix | Sunday 25 October, 8pm GMT |
These conversions use the official Austin timetable: qualifying at 4pm local on Saturday and the race at 3pm on Sunday, with Austin five hours behind UTC. GOV.UK confirms Britain returns to GMT on 25 October.
Brighton Locals’ view
The useful headline is a close Friday contest, with a firm limit on what it tells us. Treating practice as a race prediction would overstate the evidence. For viewers in Sussex, checking the time-zone label is the immediately actionable detail: Saturday is BST, Sunday is GMT.
What viewers should do next
Set each reminder against the correct UK date and time. Recheck F1’s event page for timetable changes and the qualifying result before assuming a starting order. Select “My time” only if your device is set to your actual location; an unlabeled international schedule can show a different zone.
Archive image: Circuit of the Americas main straight, 3 November 2012. Steve / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0. Resized; not a photograph of the 2026 event.
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