Mercedes were on top in the F1 FP1 for the 2024 Las Vegas GP with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell ahead of Lando Norris in third place.
Green Light in Las Vegas
The grid immediately filtered out onto a cold track on the Vegas strip. Every team but Williams, who struggled to rebuild their cars after the Brazilian GP, brought upgrades this weekend.
Liam Lawson reported the track was extremely low grip. Max Verstappen set the first flying lap of a 1:44.239 on soft tyres.
Oscar Piastri briefly brought out a yellow flag for going off the road. The Ferraris were also struggling for grip as Kevin Magnussen jumped to the top of the times with a 1:42.645.
Russell quickly set a time less than a tenth faster than the Haas before Leclerc improved to first place. The track was quickly improving.
Magnussen, Hamilton, and Verstappen topped the timings at the end of the first ten minutes, yet they were still five seconds off the practice pace from last year.
Norris had a close moment in the same place he crashed last year at the 2023 Las Vegas GP. He also went off the road multiple times during his lap before backing out. The drivers were being tentative because of the low grip on track.
A Quickly Improving Track
Most of the grid is setting laps on medium tyres, except for the two Red Bulls. Verstappen was over a second slower than Hamilton in P1, who set a 1:38.155.
A big lock-up for Zhou momentarily brought out a yellow flag. Verstappen also brought out a brief yellow flag for going deep at Turn 14.
There were plumes of dust in the air from the track, and the lack of grip continued. Colapinto was given the black and white flag for failing to follow race directions and crossing the line at pit entry.
The other Williams of Alex Albon was also given the black and white flag for failing to follow race directions and crossing the line at pit entry.
Piastri reported the car wouldn’t turn off as he was pulled into the pit garage. Meanwhile, the pit lane entry issues continued as Russell reported the pit lane entry line was nearly impossible to see.
Charles Leclerc put on the softs with 21 minutes to go, but he was still unable to beat Hamilton’s medium-tyre time. Hamilton later brought out the yellow flag for locking up and going off track, one of many drivers to do so during the session.
Leclerc finally jumped to first place with a 1:36.430, almost five-tenths faster than Hamilton’s time. Sainz was briefly held up by Franco Colapinto while setting his fastest lap of the session.
The Final 15 Minutes
Norris jumped to the top of the timing sheets, just five hundredths ahead of Leclerc.
Verstappen reported a wheel disconnection issue over the radio.
Russell set a 1:35.619, the fastest time of the session, with five minutes left. The drivers finally seemed to be finding some grip.
A yellow flag momentarily came out as Lewis Hamilton topped the timing sheets, over a tenth faster than his teammate. Russel then immediately went nine hundredths faster than Hamilton.
Ocon and Stroll nearly collided as the session was about to come to a close.
The two Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell topped the timing sheet ahead of Lando Norris in third in the F1 FP1 for the 2024 Las Vegas GP.
[adrotate banner=”10″]
Get 10% off all official F1 Merch at TheRaceWorks.com using code ‘EF1‘ at checkout.