A happy Lewis Hamilton leads the pack in Las Vegas practices.
LAS VEGAS, Nevada, U.S.A.– Lewis Hamilton finished tenth in his last race (Lenovov Sao Paulo GP), but he came roaring back on Thursday night in the practice rounds of the Heineken Las Vegas GP. The Briton set the fastest time of the practice two sessions, with a 1:33:825 fastest lap ahead of two of his countrymen, McLaren’s Lando Norris and his Mercedes teammate, George Russell. In addition, Hamilton led a Silver Arrows 1-2 in the opening session, giving this team hope for moving up the standings with three races left in the ’24 season.
Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc headed for Ferrari a fourth and fifth-place finish, while Pierre Gasly took sixth in his Alpine. The Haas F1 Team was also in the top ten, with Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg placing eighth and tenth. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was eighth, and RB’s Yuki Tsunoda rounded out the top ten.
Most drivers didn’t face difficulties except for the Williams of Alex Albon, who experienced a fuel system problem. He thought the problem was fixed. He got on the track with 22 minutes left in the second session, but his car shut down soon after that. Albon had to pull off to the side, which set off the only red flag of the evening. It lasted a few minutes while marshals removed his car.
The unusual start time arrangement in Las Vegas continues. The qualifying round is scheduled for 1 a.m. Eastern Saturday/10 p.m. Friday local time. Sunday’s race will also start at 1 a.m./10 p.m. Saturday.
ESPN will televise the qualifying and race sessions.
