Charles Leclerc took the lead in Ferrari’s dusty first practice session at the Las Vegas Grand Prix as the title-chasing McLaren drivers struggled for pace.
As the sun went down and the track opened for FP1, the Las Vegas street circuit started to get cold and dirty. Temperatures started out chilly at 57°F, but the track temperature warmed up just a little to 64°F.
The drivers spent the first 30 minutes of the session cleaning the track, leading to a rapid improvement in lap times despite the large amount of dust kicked up by the cars around the track, especially the strip, which caused wear on the popular medium tires.
Ferrari were the first major team to switch to soft tires for their signature flying laps, and Leclerc quickly felt an affinity for them. The Monaco native improved with each run on the red-marked compound, eventually setting a benchmark of 1:34.802 before switching to a final run on medium to end the session.
Alex Albon was the unexpected closest challenger, but the Williams driver completed a flying lap late in the session with 10 minutes remaining to get the track in tip-top shape. He was 0.166 seconds off the pace.
The second surprise of the session was Yuki Tsunoda, with the pressured Japanese driver setting the third fastest time, 0.269 seconds off the pace of Red Bull Racing’s fastest driver. Teammate Max Verstappen was mathematically still in contention for the championship in third place in the title standings, but was fourth, 0.038 seconds behind.
Verstappen only recorded one flying lap on the soft, while most other drivers, including Tsunoda, completed multiple runs. The Dutchman’s best time was recorded after he abandoned his first attempt on the flyer and switched to his second warm-up lap.
Carlos Sainz in the second Williams finished fifth, 0.377 seconds behind, sitting in front of the two McLaren drivers. Title leader Lando Norris was sixth in the faster of the two cars, recording a lap time 0.456 seconds slower. The Briton achieved that despite scraping the barrier while riding the mediums early in the session. His fastest time was recorded on his third attempt at Turn 12, after losing the first two laps to mistakes.
Oscar Piastri was eighth, 0.192 seconds slower than Norris. The Australian was running in a different car configuration, with McLaren giving him a lower downforce rear wing as an experiment, as the team looks to overcome last year’s disappointing performance in Las Vegas.
Isak Hajar made a good showing in the closing stages, pulling away from the McLaren pair and finishing seventh, 0.497 seconds behind.
Last year’s winner George Russell was 0.732 seconds behind in ninth place. Teammate Kimi Antonelli seemed to acknowledge the difficulties faced by the Mercedes team, finishing in the top ten just 0.004 seconds behind.
Lewis Hamilton finished 11th due to a turbulent follow-up lap on the softs. He led Pierre Gasly in his Alpine car, which comfortably cruised the streets of Las Vegas. And then there was Liam Lawson.
Aston Martin team-mates Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll will lead Haas duo Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon, while Sauber pair Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortleto will be the final two to face stewards after the session for suspected yellow flag violations. Franco Colapinto was in last place, 0.4 seconds behind.
