Las Vegas Grand Prix – Free Practice 2: Hamilton does it again
The Briton finished at the top of Free Practice 2 of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, just as he did at the end of the first hour of driving. The session was interrupted by a red flag.
In the cold of Las Vegas, Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time in the second free practice session ahead of Lando Norris and George Russell. If Toto Wolff didn’t want to get too ahead of himself before the session, it does seem that Mercedes has indeed found some performance this weekend. Like in Free Practice 1, Lewis Hamilton finishes at the top of the timesheets in a session where almost all teams have followed the same pattern.
After a first stint on medium tires, everyone went to the pits to put on soft tires. In this game, Mercedes, Ferrari, and McLaren exchanged the best lap times, while Max Verstappen did not seek performance and is satisfied with the 17th time, achieved on medium tires.
Red Bull did not seek performance.
The Dutchman, however, became very frustrated after locking his wheels several times and struggling to take certain turns on a track with precarious grip. He was not the only one in this situation and many drivers had more or less trouble negotiating the walls of the ultra-fast urban circuit.
No one got caught and the only red flag of the session came from a breakdown of Alex Albon. Already forced to stay in the pits for most of the session due to an issue with his car, the Thai driver had just enough time to leave the pits before being forced to stop again.
On the other hand, the signals sent are better on the Alpine side, riding the wave of the exceptional Grand Prix of Brazil. Pierre Gasly set the 6th fastest time of the session, behind the Mercedes, the Ferraris, and Norris.
The classification of Free Practice 2 of the Las Vegas GP
| N° | Driver | Team | Times | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hamilton | Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport | 1:33.825 | 23 | |
| 2 | Norris | McLaren F1 Team | 1:33.836 | +0.011 | 24 |
| 3 | Russell | Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport | 1:34.015 | +0.190 | 27 |
| 4 | Sainz | Scuderia Ferrari | 1:34.105 | +0.280 | 28 |
| 5 | Leclerc | Scuderia Ferrari | 1:34.313 | +0.488 | 27 |
| 6 | Gasly | BWT Alpine F1 Team | 1:34.651 | +0.826 | 29 |
| 7 | Magnussen | MoneyGram Haas F1 Team | 1:34.686 | +0.861 | 19 |
| 8 | Piastri | McLaren F1 Team | 1:34.798 | +0.973 | 25 |
| 9 | Hülkenberg | MoneyGram Haas F1 Team | 1:34.818 | +0.993 | 23 |
| 10 | Tsunoda | Visa Cash App RB F1 Team | 1:34.997 | +1.172 | 22 |
| 11 | Bottas | Stake F1 Team | 1:35.030 | +1.205 | 27 |
| 12 | Ocon | BWT Alpine F1 Team | 1:35.221 | +1.396 | 25 |
| 13 | Stroll | Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team | 1:35.251 | +1.426 | 26 |
| 14 | Alonso | Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team | 1:35.440 | +1.615 | 24 |
| 15 | Lawson | Visa Cash App RB F1 Team | 1:35.671 | +1.846 | 23 |
| 16 | Guanyu | Stake F1 Team | 1:35.765 | +1.940 | 27 |
| 17 | Verstappen | Oracle Red Bull Racing | 1:35.834 | +2.009 | 24 |
| 18 | Colapinto | Williams Racing | 1:35.868 | +2.043 | 29 |
| 19 | Perez | Oracle Red Bull Racing | 1:36.066 | +2.241 | 24 |
| 20 | Albon | Williams Racing | 1:39.629 | +5.804 | 4 |
