Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton topped both of Friday’s free practice sessions ahead of the United States grand prix.

The first session proved a rather difficult one to read as most of the running was done on the intermediate tyre. While conditions remained slippery, and tricky, several cars spun out but, thankfully, didn’t incur any damage.

Brendon Hartley made his debut for the Toro Rosso team alongside Sean Geleal in the morning session while Daniel Kvyat returned to the fold for the afternoon session and the remainder of the weekend. Carlos Sainz impressed in his first outing as a Renault driver by immediately out-pacing his new teammate Nico Hulkenberg.

While championship leader Hamilton topped both 90 minute sessions the Ferrari’s of Vettel and Raikkonen and Red Bull’s of Verstappen and Ricciardo were ever present. With regard to long run pace there appeared to be little to choose between the top three teams. However, Vettel and Ferrari endured some suspension issues late on the afternoon session which were seemingly sorted.

With a raft of penalties to be served on Sunday’s grid the verdict is still out on whether Verstappen will incur his own penalty for a new Internal combustion engine. As it stands Red Bull have not yet revealed whether this will be the case.

The organizers of the Texas Gp along with the FIA and F1 teams have all done their bit to highlight Breast Cancer Awareness month with everything from racing gloves to shoes to the ultra soft tyre being accented in pink for the weekend. In conjunction with the Susan G. Komen foundation F1 is hoping to shine a light on finding a cure for and spreading awareness of breast cancer.

The weekend is  an ultra important one for Vettel and Ferrari who must win in Texas to keep the championship fight going. In contrast, Hamilton, sure to be the more relaxed of the two championship contenders, is sitting pretty with a 59 point lead.