We are back on the worlds famous strip for the title deciding F1 2024 Las Vegas GP. But did Verstappen’s FP2 performance reflect that of his fourth championship? Here is what happened.
With the track temperature cooling rapidly into the night, the paddock froze to see if Lando Norris could keep his times on the top following FP1. Despite all rumours and odds, the Williams team bounced back with at least one car ready and well enough to compete again in Vegas. While McLaren seem to have the constructors title in the bag, it’s still anyone’s guess at who could take the drivers. Here’s what went down during FP2 of the F1 2024 Las Vegas GP.
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Session Begins:
The green light came on for FP2 at the F1 2024 Las Vegas GP and cars wasted no time taking to the track. Some early drama ensued in the pit lane with George Russell being cut off by Lando Norris in an attempt to get to the track. Straight off the bat, drivers reported the very low track temperature with George Russell chipping in on the radio with his concerns about the conditions. The early times began to come through with Kevin Magnussen producing a 1:37.725 which was quickly shaved of two tenths by previous podium finisher Esteban Ocon. Most of the field kicked off the session by finding their feet on the medium tyre compound. Any tyre compound however proved to be difficult for the drivers with such low track temperature. Championship contender Max Verstappen expressed this struggle over the radio to his engineer.
Tricky Track Temperatures:
The dropping temperature of 10 degrees it made lockups much more frequent for the drivers. Kevin Magnussen had a close call with kissing the barrier at turn 14. Unfortunately, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso reported the same bouncing issue over the radio that caused his back pain in Interlagos. Ferrari looked very much on the pace in FP2, setting consistent top times coming up to the 15 minute mark of the session. The current landscape of FP2 just 20 minutes into the session was looking like a McLaren Ferrari fight. Rookie Colapinto continued to impress, filling in the spot for his teammate. Albon sat in the Williams garage with a suspected technical fault with his car. Ferrari continued to pick up the pace with Leclerc setting a 1:34.476. With Mercedes cars now on soft tyres, the battle for the top time was now with them.
Typical of the F1 veteran, Alonso managed to outperform the shortcomings of his car. He sat at a P5 speed on soft tyres. With a fresh set of softs, Lando Norris seemed to be very much on the pace and not yet out of the title fight. Meanwhile, some promising news came from the Williams garage as they intend to send Albon out for FP2. The mechanics managed to impressively turn out this suspected fuel system issue. Traffic jams never fail to cause drama and Vegas was no different. We heard complaints from both Gasly and Russell over the radio regarding traffic during a flying lap.
Red Flag For Albon:
Unfortunately, Alex Albon’s triumphant last minute return to the track was short lived. His flying lap was swiftly aborted as he came to a standstill on the track. This appeared to be due to the same mechanical issue that made him late to FP2. An absolute nightmare run for Williams.
At just over the halfway mark of FP2, the session went back underway. Interestingly, Lewis Hamilton appeared to be back on the pace from Sao Paulo setting a two second time gap to Verstappen. He set a pacey 1:33.825. While Mercedes dominated the times, Red Bull left more to desire. Meanwhile, Alpine showed us that their double podium place wasn’t a one time endeavour. Pierre Gasly appeared consistent and pacey in the midfield throughout FP2. Impressively, Hamilton managed to stay on top of the times with Norris flying just behind him.
Overall, FP2 for the F1 2024 Las Vegas GP seemed smooth sailing for Lewis Hamilton stayed on top. The Mercedes set a benchmark time of 1:33.825. Strangely, Verstappen did not place his car anywhere near the top ten. However, we are yet to see if these times reflect his true pace.