[13] A brief red flag was observed after the Williams of Alexander Albon ended his session on track due to mechanical failure.

[14] Red Bull Racing was fined €1,000 after Sergio Pérez breached the pit lane speed limit by 8.9 km/h (5.5 mph).

[15] The second free practice session was held on the same day, at 17:00 local time, and was topped by Leclerc ahead of Oscar Piastri of McLaren and Yuki Tsunoda of RB.

[16] The third free practice session was held on 18 May 2024, at 12:30 local time,[1] and was topped by Piastri ahead of his teammate Lando Norris and Sainz of Ferrari.

[1] Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing set the fastest time and took his eighth consecutive pole position, the second driver to do so after Ayrton Senna at the 1989 United States Grand Prix.

[22] After the session, Piastri was given a three-place grid penalty, moving him to fifth, for impeding the Haas of Kevin Magnussen during his flying lap in the first segment (Q1).

Verstappen proceeded to build a three-second gap to Norris by lap-ten, who was pressured from behind by the Ferrari drivers of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr.[28][29] On lap ten, Alexander Albon encountered an issue with his hard tyres.

The RB of Yuki Tsunoda had been stuck behind Haas driver Nico Hülkenberg but would eventually undercut him after a quick stop.

Pérez had been utilising the hard tyres from his first stint, making a change on lap 38 to mediums and attacking Ricciardo, Hülkenberg and Tsunoda shortly after he exited the pit lane.

Meanwhile, Magnussen was scrapping with the Alpine drivers and the Sauber of Zhou Guanyu while Norris and Leclerc were close to each other in a battle for second place.