George Russell took the lead in the final wet and dry practice session ahead of Max Verstappen for the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris were slowest in 19th and 20th, having been unable to run due to technical problems during the second half of the session when the track surface was at its driest.
Rain had fallen a few hours earlier in the late afternoon, so the roads were starting to get wet, but the temperatures were still cool, at a chilly 55 degrees Fahrenheit, leaving the already slippery roads unrelentingly wet. The drivers were reluctant to take part in the course, and when they did take part, they were still fitted with intermediate tires. It was the best compound for the conditions, but long sections of the track, including much of the strip’s back straight, were dry enough that the tires wore out quickly.
It took about 30 minutes into the session for anyone to try slick tires, and Lando Norris switched to soft tires around the halfway mark. That was sooner than the title leaders had hoped, but team radar suggested the rain could return within 10 minutes, meaning there would be no chance of at least trying slick tires ahead of qualifying then or never.
The Briton was initially several miles off the pace, but showed signs of improvement on his second flying lap after pumping heat into the rubber, causing him to run off the track on the wet surface. Ironically, when his run ended, the truck appeared to have reached a transition point. With rain threatening to fall, a group of drivers joined the track on slick tires and suddenly began to find time.
Lewis Hamilton was supposed to be the first driver to hit the ground running, but he was hit by a group of slow-moving cars at the end of the back straight and was forced off the track in a horrific near miss. Teammate Charles Leclerc took his place at the top of the timesheets, but it didn’t last long as more drivers took to the track on softs and everyone found time.
As predicted rain diverted the track, drivers switched to fresh soft tires for the final stint and loaded up on enough fuel to give the tires maximum heat on the cold surface.
At the checkered flag, Russell was the last driver to cross the line and took the lead with a fastest time of 1:34.054. Verstappen was scheduled to cross the line just after Russell and looked certain to take the lead, but the Dutchman was hampered by slower drivers who refused to leave the narrow dry line and his lap was ruined. He finished 0.227 seconds off the pace.
Despite Norris’ brave move to switch to slick tires first, McLaren was unable to move among the leaders in any stage on soft tires. Norris and Piastri appeared to need more than two laps to get their slick rubber up to temperature and were hovering in the middle of the field with 10 minutes left, with most drivers pitting for a last new set of softs. However, Norris remained in the pit lane with what appeared to be a battery discharge issue. Piastri pitted shortly after, but was told he could not return to the session due to telemetry problems.
Alex Albon instead completed the top three for Williams, lapping 0.821 seconds slower than Russell.
The spread of the field was remarkable considering the rapidly changing situation. Isaac Hajar followed in fourth place, with a difference of 1.1 seconds. He was still ahead of Hamilton, who finished fifth ahead of Kimi Antonelli in the second Mercedes in sixth. Liam Lawson finished seventh ahead of Aston Martin teammates Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso, while Pierre Gasly rounded out the top ten for Alpine.
Oliver Bearman was 11th, dropping the home team of Carlos Sainz, Gabriel Bortleto, Esteban Ocon, Charles Leclerc, Franco Colapinto, Nico Hulkenberg and Yuki Tsunoda to 18th, but this position was largely determined by the drivers’ laps and how much traffic they encountered in the final minutes of the crowded circuit.
“That’s impressive. It actually doesn’t take that much rain to mess things up,” Bearman recalled.
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