Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) won the first free practice session for the Las Vegas Grand Prix and Lando Norris (McLaren) the second, on a cold track but ultimately less wet than expected.
With the Las Vegas GP taking place on Saturday evening (8:00 p.m. local time, 5:00 a.m. Sunday French time), the first two free practice sessions took place this Thursday. And it was Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris who were the fastest. During the first session, which took place in the cold and on a dry but slippery track, Charles Leclerc signed one of his 29 laps in 1’34″802, and was ahead of Alexander Albon (Williams) by 166 thousandths and Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull) by 269 thousandths.
The Monegasque and Max Verstappen (Red Bull) initially dominated the session on medium tires, before Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) climbed to the top of the timesheet, on soft tires, but Leclerc and Verstappen subsequently took back control, before Yuki Tsunoda took the lead in turn.
And we’re talking about manhole covers again…
With less than a quarter of an hour to go, Leclerc became the first driver to go under 1’35, and no one managed to do better after that. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, the two McLaren drivers, did not shine during this session, finishing 6th and 8th respectively. On the French side, Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls) took 7th place, Pierre Gasly (Alpine) 12th and Esteban Ocon (Haas) 17th. The second session was more hectic, with two red flags displayed to inspect the track.
In fact, a manhole cover was poorly fixed, and the commissioners took the time to put it back. No car was damaged, which will avoid the controversy of 2023, when Carlos Sainz destroyed the floor of his Ferrari because of a manhole cover, and was penalized on the starting grid due to the repairs that his mechanics had to carry out on his car.
Norris recovers
This Thursday, the track was wet due to a downpour that fell between the two sessions, and it was Lando Norris who did the best, completing one of his 13 laps in 1’33″602. The championship leader was ahead of Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) by 29 thousandths and Charles Leclerc by 161 thousandths.
The McLaren driver was more to his advantage than during the first session, even if George Russell (Mercedes) and the two Ferraris took first place for a few moments. At the end of the session, however, Leclerc experienced a gearbox problem. On the French side, Isack Hadjar finished 5th, Pierre Gasly 12th and Esteban Ocon 19th. The third session will take place Friday at 4:30 p.m. local time, 1:30 a.m. Saturday French time.
