Overview
- Antonio Giovinazzi put AF Corse’s Ferrari 499P quickest in Friday morning practice with a 1:53.824 benchmark that the field used as a reference for setup work.
- Heart of Racing’s Aston Martins overturned that early order in Friday afternoon practice when Harry Tincknell led Hypercar with a 1:52.567 and Zach Robichon topped LMGT3 with a 2:05.609.
- Teams spent both sessions testing Michelin medium and hard compounds and mixed tyre fits to gather data on grip and degradation for the hot COTA surface.
- Practice running was disrupted by incidents that affected data gathering, including Mathys Jaubert’s Turn 2 off that caused a red flag, Marco Sorensen becoming trapped in an escape road, a post‑session investigation into Kevin Magnussen, and a contact that damaged the #50 Ferrari after a rear hit from a Proton Mustang.
- Harry Tincknell extended Aston’s advantage in final practice on Saturday by posting the quickest lap of the weekend, a 1:52.174, leaving qualifying as the next decisive session for grid positions and race plans.