Las Vegas Grand Prix – Free Practice 2: Ferrari dominates the extended session, with many drivers making mistakes

Finally! After several hours of waiting following the accident of Carlos Sainz during Free Practice 1 (Find our article here), the second session was held at… 2:30 AM local time in Las Vegas. The on-site organization was able to carry out the necessary repairs to restore the track. Hopefully, at least. In the story, Carlos Sainz’s car suffered heavy damage: the chassis was completely destroyed, complained Fred Vasseur during the press conference. Adding to the irony, the Spaniard received a penalty for changing components on his car (10 grid places for Sunday)… It should also be noted that fans were forced to leave the stands before the start of the session.”

Several drivers make mistakes in Las Vegas.

Let’s get back to the subject: the Free Practice 2 in Las Vegas, then. Let’s hope it lasts longer than 9 minutes this time. The first drivers take to the track, including Carlos Sainz, whose car was repaired in time. Lando Norris leads this pack and sets the first time, after taking turn 8 too wide. But his car went into “limp home” mode, bad news for the British driver right from the start, as he has to return to the pit.

He is not the only one to be unlucky at the beginning of this session. It seems that the track is very slippery (and very shiny), as several cars are spinning out: Sergio Perez, Kevin Magnussen, and an Aston Martin. It is worth noting that a mix of soft and medium tires is being used in this session, as nobody wants to use the hard compound with such cool temperatures (the air temperature is 13.8°C and the track temperature is 15.5°C).

Good news for Ferrari, though: Carlos Sainz is recovering from his incident and is the fastest with his first lap, in 1m39.891s. His teammate Charles Leclerc puts himself in P2 ahead of Max Verstappen. The Monegasque even takes the lead with a fast lap of 1 minute 38.325 seconds. The lap times gradually decrease as the tires improve their performance. It’s Lewis Hamilton who then takes first place with a lap in 1 minute 38.876 seconds, achieved on soft tires. But Verstappen, on medium tires, beats this time shortly after… Until Sainz takes back what is rightfully his, with an impressive 1 minute 35.537 seconds. However, Hamilton has the impression that the Spaniard blocked him on the track during his fast lap.

Good pace for Ferrari in Las Vegas

Lance Stroll had a little scare at turn 14 with a tire lock-up, but he turned back on the track and continued without any consequences. Later on, the same thing happened again, where he hit a kerb aggressively and created some sparks.

Good news for Norris: McLaren has resolved the issue and the British driver is back on track. While the majority of cars are returning to the pits after half an hour of free practice. This is not the case for Leclerc and Verstappen, who are battling it out on the track as if they were already in the race… Shortly after, the three-time world champion enters turn 12, locks up his front left tire before spinning and getting back on track. Later in the session, George Russell and Carlos Sainz will also have some slides – but without any crashes.

On his side, Oscar Piastri is rather slow, 5 seconds below the average pace. Three drivers, including Hülkenberg, receive a warning flag for crossing the track limit at the pitlane entry.

Alex Albon violently locks up his tires and briefly comes to a stop on the track. Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso leaps over a kerb, sets the fastest lap… And returns to the garage for work on his floor.

It’s a tight race at the top, with the top five (Alonso, Leclerc, Hamilton, Albon, and Perez) separated by just 0.053 seconds. There will then be some changes at the front, with Leclerc taking the lead and Bottas breaking into the top 5, while Hamilton and Albon drop to 9th and 10th place. Then, Sainz will sneak into second place, pushing Verstappen down to the 6th best time. That’s how it will stay until the end: the two Ferraris are the fastest on this Friday, followed by Fernando Alonso.

The ranking of Free Practice 2 in Las Vegas