Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton tops Las Vegas practice, leading British trio

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Lewis Hamilton tops P1 & P2 in Las Vegas

Lewis Hamilton claims a surprise practice double for Mercedes in Las Vegas.

Nov 22, 2024, 04:28 am

Lewis Hamilton was fastest in Las Vegas Grand Prix practice on Thursday with McLaren's Lando Norris splitting the two Mercedes and George Russell completing a British trio on top of the Formula 1 timesheets in the second session.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who won last year's race and can claim a fourth successive championship on Saturday night, was 17th at the end of the day -- two seconds off the pace but without using the soft tyre.

Ferrari-bound seven-time world champion Hamilton had felt like walking away from Mercedes after the previous race in Sao Paulo, saying it had been the worst his car had ever been, but he was back with a bang in the Nevada desert.

The Briton topped the first practice timesheets in 1:35.001 seconds, 0.396 seconds ahead of Russell and 0.953 quicker than Norris in cool, slippery conditions around the glitzy city streets.

Lewis Hamilton was quickest in Thursday's practice sessions.
Clive Mason/Getty Images

Hamilton lapped in 1:33.825 in the late night session, with Norris 0.011 slower and Russell 0.190 off the pace. The times were all set on the fastest, soft tyres with all drivers struggling for grip on the fast circuit.

Ferrari's Carlos Sainz was fourth fastest with teammate Charles Leclerc fifth and Alpine's Pierre Gasly sixth.

Norris's Australian teammate Oscar Piastri was eighth for McLaren, who are fighting a tight constructors' battle with Ferrari.

Verstappen's under-fire Mexican teammate Sergio Perez was only 19th in practice two.

Second practice was red flagged when Alex Albon's Williams came to a halt. The Thai had been late out of the garage as his team dealt with a fuel system issue that then led to the breakdown.

Valtteri Bottas was handed a five-place grid penalty for exceeding the limit of power unit components after starting practice with a new energy store.

The opening practice along the transformed Las Vegas Strip was far more successful than last year when the session lasted a mere eight minutes before Sainz's Ferrari was badly damaged by a loose drain cover.

Verstappen will be champion again if he beats Norris on Saturday or the McLaren driver fails to score three points more than him.