The Circuit of the Americas has been given a resounding thumbs up by drivers and team principals, although Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button fear a potential lack of overtaking in Austin.
The $US250 million ($A243 million) purpose-built track opened its doors to Formula One on Friday as the sport returned to the United States for the first time in five years.
Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel ended both practice sessions at the top of the timesheet, and comfortably so, finishing more than 0.7 seconds clear of teammate Mark Webber.
Title rival Fernando Alonso was close behind Webber in third, with the McLarens of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button a full second adrift.
Vettel’s dominance was such that he could even afford to put his feet up in the garage for half an hour while his mechanics fixed a water pump failure that left them mopping up with paper towels.
As for the track itself, there were plenty of admirers from the front to the back of the grid.
Hamilton said: “The track is cool all round. It’s a great track to drive on and very difficult to get all the sectors together.”
But as to whether the circuit lends itself to overtaking, Hamilton added: “That’s the question. We’ll have to wait and see. I’m not so sure.”
Teammate Button was even less enthusiastic on that score, adding: “I’m sorry to say, with the way the tyres are with low degradation, there isn’t going to be a lot of overtaking I don’t think.
“But the circuit is great fun to drive and I hope we can put on a great race.”
Webber felt it was “a pretty good track” and a “fun and new challenge,” but stressed the importance of qualifying in the right positions tomorrow.
“The left-hand side of the grid will be a joke (as there will be no grip),” the Australian said.
“You want to be on the right-hand side if you can, pole or third or fifth or something like that, that will be the first thing.”
Although Caterham’s Heikki Kovalainen incurred a puncture in FP2, the Finn joined in the overall chorus of approval.
“The track layout lived up to expectations,” Kovalainen said. “It’s a proper driver’s track and as it keeps evolving it’s going to get even faster, which will give us a chance to really find out what it’s all about.”
As for the team bosses, they were all in agreement the track is of the highest standards.