Leclerc was fastest in Free Practice 1, which was curtailed after only eight minutes due to a water valve cover working loose and smashing the bottom of team-mate Carlos Sainz’s car, and also paced FP2 with a fastest time of 1m35.265s.
Las Vegas GP FP1 results: Leclerc fastest from Hulkenberg
Cla | Nº | Driver | Car / Engine | Time | Delay | Laps | km/h |
1 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1'40.909 | 4 | 221.225 | |
2 | 27 | Nico Hülkenberg | Haas/Ferrari | 1'43.446 | 2.537 | 4 | 215.799 |
3 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas/Ferrari | 1'44.261 | 3.352 | 4 | 214.112 |
4 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull/Honda RBPT | 1'44.397 | 3.488 | 4 | 213.833 |
5 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine/Renault | 1'45.365 | 4.456 | 5 | 211.869 |
6 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1'45.497 | 4.588 | 4 | 211.604 |
7 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Ferrari | 1'45.824 | 4.915 | 4 | 210.950 |
8 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT | 1'45.908 | 4.999 | 5 | 210.782 |
9 | 11 | Sergio Pérez | Red Bull/Honda RBPT | 1'46.793 | 5.884 | 4 | 209.036 |
10 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo/Ferrari | 1'47.147 | 6.238 | 5 | 208.345 |
11 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine/Renault | 1'48.253 | 7.344 | 5 | 206.216 |
12 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1'48.513 | 7.604 | 4 | 205.722 |
13 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT | 1'48.650 | 7.741 | 4 | 205.463 |
14 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo/Ferrari | 1'48.822 | 7.913 | 5 | 205.138 |
15 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren/Mercedes | 1'48.947 | 8.038 | 3 | 204.903 |
16 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin/Mercedes | - | 2 | ||
17 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren/Mercedes | - | 2 | ||
18 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams/Mercedes | - | 2 | ||
19 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin/Mercedes | - | 2 |
What happened in Las Vegas GP Free Practice 1?
The hugely anticipated first running on the new 3.9-mile street track didn’t last long, as the water valve cover issue that sidelined Sainz’s car brought the session to an early end after just eight minutes.
Sainz's Ferrari crawled to a halt between the Bellagio and Paris hotels on the Strip, his onboard camera showing that his car had been rendered immobile by an impact from something on the track.
The Ferrari’s chassis, floor and battery were damaged in the impact, as the concrete frame of the water valve cover was ripped up by the force of F1 cars running over it at high speed. The Alpine of Esteban Ocon was also damaged, as it was his car that flicked up the cover.
Valtteri Bottas had set the first timed lap of the track, with a 1m50.227s, but the benchmark swiftly fell with Leclerc working down to 1m40.909s before the red flag.
The Haas duo of Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen were next up, ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Ocon.
Las Vegas GP FP2 results: Leclerc fastest from Sainz
Cla | Nº | Driver | Car / Engine | Time | Delay | Laps |
1 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1'35.265 | 39 | |
2 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Ferrari | 1'35.782 | 0.517 | 39 |
3 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin/Mercedes | 1'35.793 | 0.528 | 38 |
4 | 11 | Sergio Pérez | Red Bull/Honda RBPT | 1'36.085 | 0.820 | 36 |
5 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo/Ferrari | 1'36.129 | 0.864 | 36 |
6 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull/Honda RBPT | 1'36.183 | 0.918 | 37 |
7 | 27 | Nico Hülkenberg | Haas/Ferrari | 1'36.489 | 1.224 | 33 |
8 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin/Mercedes | 1'36.496 | 1.231 | 41 |
9 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1'36.663 | 1.398 | 42 |
10 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams/Mercedes | 1'36.688 | 1.423 | 42 |
11 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren/Mercedes | 1'36.864 | 1.599 | 33 |
12 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1'36.890 | 1.625 | 37 |
13 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas/Ferrari | 1'36.917 | 1.652 | 37 |
14 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren/Mercedes | 1'36.987 | 1.722 | 35 |
15 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine/Renault | 1'37.134 | 1.869 | 33 |
16 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine/Renault | 1'37.241 | 1.976 | 37 |
17 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT | 1'37.412 | 2.147 | 41 |
18 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo/Ferrari | 1'37.656 | 2.391 | 36 |
19 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT | 1'37.680 | 2.415 | 40 |
20 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | Williams/Mercedes | 1'38.140 | 2.875 | 42 |
What happened in Las Vegas GP Free Practice 2?
After a lengthy delay to inspect and remedy about 30 covers around the track, by filling them with track surface materials, FP2 was started at 2:30am local time and was extended to 90 minutes.
Magnussen and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez were early visitors to the Turn 12 run-off after locking up.
Sainz showed no ill effects by immediately going to the top of the times with 1m39.891s, a tenth faster than Leclerc – both running soft tyres from the start.
Verstappen then set the pace at 1m38.625s on mediums, before Sainz grabbed P1 back with 1m38.537s and Leclerc retook it with 1m38.325s. Verstappen lowered the bar to 1m38.209s, to set the fastest time on mediums.
Perez briefly took the top spot at 1m37.807s, before Sainz snatched it with 1m36.984s and Leclerc took P2, 0.245s slower. Verstappen locked up on his soft run, going down the Turn 12 escape road. On his next lap, he got to within 0.148s of Sainz for P2.
Sainz then improved to 1m36.742s, before Leclerc topped that by 0.082s with 1m36.660s. Verstappen could only manage 1m36.960s for third, before Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) jumped up to second, just 0.003s off Leclerc’s pace, and Alex Albon rose to third for Williams, 0.028s slower, before overshooting Turn 12.
Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) rocketed to the top of the times with a time of 1m36.657s, set with 40 minutes remaining. Sainz beat that, on a new set of softs, with 1m36.354s but Verstappen bested him with 1m36.307s.
Leclerc reset the bar to 1m35.696s and then 1m35.265s. Sainz took P2, albeit half a second down, while Alonso bounced back to third before visiting an escape road. Perez was fourth from Bottas, Verstappen and Hulkenberg.