Liam Lawson proved to be a strong competitor ahead of the US Grand Prix at his "favourite" track in Austin, Texas.
Off the back of a musical performance in front of a large crowd of supporters and Formula 1 legend Daniel Ricciardo, Lawson showed his skills behind the wheel matched those on a guitar and microphone.
The New Zealander placed sixth in Free Practice Two with a lap time of 1.36.331, improving on his FP1 position of 10th.
Lawson's fastest lap in the first practice was deleted after he breached track limits, relegating him from ninth.
Although a P6 result looked promising, he warned against expecting similar results come Qualifying.
"We are fighting where we normally are, hopefully a little further away from the others," Lawson said.
"I think a P9 is probably the best case."
Prior to getting out on track, Lawson spoke about his excitement of returning to Circuit of the Americas, hopeful of a good race result.
"It would be great to have a strong weekend, I think we’ve had a good season and a good run of recent races," Lawson said.
“It’s probably my favourite on the calendar to drive - I’m excited, it's always a good atmosphere here."
Lawson's string of consistency put him in a solid position to be resigned for Racing Bulls next year, as he and teammate Arvid Lindblad were yet to be confirmed as drivers for 2027.
There remained three seats available for next season, with F2 driver Rafael Camara recently signed to debut for Haas.
Ferrari out front
Charles Leclerc was the hero of the Saturday sessions, powering to first in both practices.
In FP1 he set a time of 1.36.052, leading from Max Verstappen in second and reigning World Champion Lando Norris in third.
The Ferrari driver repeated his performance for FP2, improving on his previous time and narrowly beating championship leader and Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli by 0.042 of a second.
When asked about Ferrari's goal to secure second in the Constructors Championship, Leclerc said it's not something he "really cares of", choosing instead to focus on winning races.
The most important for us is focussing race by race and trying to get as many wins as possible from now until the end of the season," he said.
"To actually win races by the end of the year would be a good sign."
SHARE ME