Lando Norris trailed championship rival Max Verstappen in practice for the US Grand Prix.
Norris, who is 52 points behind Verstappen heading into the remaining six rounds, finished fourth, one spot behind Red Bull’s Verstappen at Austin’s Circuit of the Americas.
Carlos Sainz took top spot ahead of Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc in the sole practice session prior to qualifying for Saturday’s sprint race.
Norris claimed an emphatic win at the previous race in Singapore to keep the pressure on Verstappen as the British driver bids to claim a first world crown.
But it was Verstappen who held a narrow early advantage in practice here after he finished 0.013 seconds clear of his McLaren rival. Norris’s team-mate Oscar Piastri finished fifth, while Sergio Perez was only 16th in the second Red Bull.
Lewis Hamilton has enjoyed a number of strong performances in Austin, winning at this venue a record five times.
However, the seven-time world champion could manage only sixth, 0.361 sec off the pace, and one spot ahead of George Russell in the other Mercedes.
Both Hamilton and Russell spun off the track but managed to get back to the pits without sustaining any damage.
Elsewhere, Liam Lawson, who has replaced Daniel Ricciardo at RB, finished 13th – three places behind team-mate Yuki Tsunoda.
Qualifying for Saturday’s shortened race takes place at 1630 local time (2230BST).
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here