REPORT: A Positive Friday in Texas

The team bounced back from an interrupted First Practice session at the Circuit of the Americas to secure two spots in the top ten ahead of the Sprint race tomorrow.

After gearbox troubles cut Carlos's practice session short – a practice session that is doubly important given the alternative format of a Sprint weekend – the team showed impressive resolve, not to mention pace, to get both cars into the final session of Sprint Qualifying just a few hours later.

Some shrewd strategy calls – including sending both cars out early for their final runs in SQ2, while several others were caught out trying to be last to cross the line – ensured safe passage into that top ten shootout.

We were one of just three teams (alongside McLaren and Ferrari) to get both drivers into that final session, and early push laps gave us a P7 and P9 finish.

It's a result that bodes well for the rest of the weekend, with three competitive sessions still yet to come.

After the session, Carlos commented, "it’s encouraging to be P7 in Sprint qualifying, especially with the little track action I’ve had today after missing most of FP1.

"Considering the circumstances, I’m happy with my laps on both compounds and I’ll do my best to grab some points in the Sprint race. We’ll also take the learnings for tomorrow’s main qualifying and hopefully we can repeat or improve today’s result."

Alex was similarly satisfied with his day of running, saying, "we thought SQ3 was on the cards today but to have both cars through was nice.

"We struggled a bit still and didn't feel as comfortable compared to practice, but nevertheless, a nice surprise. We’re starting the Sprint on the clean side of the grid, so we want to keep it tidy and with points on the table let’s see what we can do tomorrow."