Ending the race at Interlagos, Brazil in frustration and disappointment, Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes surprisingly ended the testing day in Las Vegas in the lead, not Red Bull, McLaren or Ferrari, the racing teams all had their own problems after the first two sessions.
The sun set and the night lights appeared on the Las Vegas circuit, signaling the start of FP1 at 6.30pm local time. The drivers adjusted to the cool, low-grip conditions, leading to a series of slides. Championship contenders Max Verstappen and Lando Norris also struggled on the overshoot of Turn 14.
Verstappen’s tough testing day
At 30 minutes into the session, Lewis Hamilton was fastest, with team-mate George Russell and Norris rounding out the top three. The drivers then switched to Soft tyres, and Norris immediately set a lap time of 1:35.954, ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, with Verstappen in sixth. Next up were Oscar Piastri (McLaren) and Pierre Gasly (Alpine), the podium winner in Brazil who had a steering wheel connection problem.
Mercedes switched to red tyres late but regained P1 after Russell improved his laps to 1:35.397s. However, Hamilton eventually finished first with a 1:35.001s lap, almost 0.4s quicker than his rivals. Mercedes took first and second places, followed by Norris, Leclerc, Verstappen, Sainz and Fernando Alonso, who drove his Aston Martin ahead of Piastri, Gasly and Sergio Perez (Red Bull) completing the top 10.
Haas made a decent start to the third race on their home turf this year, with Kevin Magnussen finishing 11th, ahead of Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), Alex Albon and Esteban Ocon. Nico Hulkenberg finished 15th in the remaining VF-24. Valtteri Bottas was right behind him, serving a five-place penalty for replacing his fourth ES this year (limited to two). Yuki Tsunoda (RB) was slowest in the run, the Japanese driver having trouble getting into the US (for the third time this year) after being ‘stuck’ at the border for several hours.
FP2: Hamilton scores a “double” after two testing sessions
Lewis Hamilton completed a double in Thursday practice by taking the lead in FP2 at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, ahead of rival Lando Norris and team-mate George Russell – while champion Max Verstappen finished 17th after a lacklustre performance.
Continuing his form from the first practice session, Hamilton set a time of 1:33.825 on the Soft tyre, beating Norris by just 0.011s and Russell by 0.19s. The seven-time world champion’s time came just before Albon’s red flag, when the Williams stopped mid-run with a fuel system failure.
Ferrari pair Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc were fourth and fifth respectively, while Pierre Gasly was P6, helping Alpine to a decent result despite the traffic in the Soft session. Haas also had two cars in the top 10, with Magnussen seventh and Hulkenberg ninth, with Piastri sandwiched between them. Meanwhile, Yuki Tsunoda made the leap from the bottom of the FP1 standings to take 10th.
Bottas and Ocon finished 11th and 12th for Kick Sauber and Alpine respectively, followed by the Aston Martin drivers Stroll and Alonso. Liam Lawson was 0.5s slower than team-mate Tsunoda. Red flags, cold weather and slippery conditions made it difficult for the drivers to get the best lap. Chu Guan Yu was 16th in the second Kick Sauber.
Champion Verstappen and Red Bull had a practice session to forget, with the Dutchman reporting “no grip” on his car and tyres in the early stages. He was only able to complete one lap on the Soft before the red flags came out, leaving him in 17th. Second-placed Perez was in 19th as his RB20 suffered a similar experience.
Williams finished bottom with Franco Colapinto and Alexander Albon finishing 18th and 20th respectively. The Thai driver had to watch the rest of FP2 from the garage after his car encountered technical problems.
Drivers and teams now have the opportunity to review data and adjust car set-ups ahead of FP3 and qualifying on Friday evening.