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Formula 1 Las Vegas GP

F1 Las Vegas GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP1 & FP2

Friday's action from the 21st round of the 2023 Formula 1 season.

After all the hype and the glitzy build-up, the most anticipated race of the year is here as F1 returns to Las Vegas for the first time in over 40 years.

The Las Vegas GP is the penultimate race of the 2023 season and provides an all-new challenge to the teams and the drivers, on a street track built around the famous city Strip.

The first practice session of the Las Vegas GP weekend starts at 4:30am GMT, followed by second practice at 8:00am GMT.

 

By: Haydn Cobb, Sam Hall, James Newbold

Stopped
Summary
  • Ferrari tops delayed Las Vegas GP FP2 which concludes at 4am local time on Friday morning, with Leclerc heading team-mate Sainz
  • F1's return to Las Vegas for first time in over 40 years blighted by problems with water valve cover on Thursday evening
  • FP1 red-flagged after less than 10 minutes and not resumed as loose water valve cover damaged Sainz's Ferrari, causing him to serve a grid penalty for using a new engine outside his allocation
  • FP2 begins 150 minutes behind schedule and is extended to a 90-minute run time, but fans are forced to leave grandstands before FP2 begins
Leaderboard
  1. Leclerc, Ferrari
  2. Sainz, Ferrari
  3. Alonso, Aston Martin
  4. Perez, Red Bull
  5. Bottas, Alfa Romeo
  6. Verstappen, Red Bull
  7. Hulkenberg, Haas
  8. Stroll, Aston Martin
  9. Hamilton, Mercedes
  10. Albon, Williams
Breaking news
After much delay, we were treated to an extremely exciting session. If only the fans could have been there to see it! 

We'll be back again tomorrow for FP3 and qualifying, but until then, here is the full session report! Bye! 

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1-las-vegas-gp-leclerc-leads-ferrari-1-2-in-delayed-and-extended-fp2-session/10547656/
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-23

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-23

Perez is fourth with Bottas also ahead of world champion Verstappen.
Alonso confirmed his pace from Brazil with P3 this evening.
A great FP2 for Ferrari with Leclerc leading Sainz to a one-two.
Checkered flag
Chequered flag and finally, Thursday is done with - at midday on Friday in the UK!
The slight interruption was for Sargeant, who went off and continued at Turn 5.
Yellow flag
Five minutes remain and the yellow flags are out.
Bottas is the latest to try hard tyres for possibly the one time this weekend. In the cooler temperatures, they won't be fancied in the race at all.
Albon's experiment on hard tyres didn't last long and he now has the mediums again. Tsunoda and Sargeant are now on the white-walls.
No worries on Hulkenberg as it turns out. He just needed a toilet break!
With 20 minutes to go, we're well into the long runs. But almost like he got slightly bored, Sainz put in a flier and moved up one place to P2, overtaking Alonso.
There appears to be an issue for Hulkenberg. He's P7 but has climbed out of his car and left the garage, looking like his day is done.
Verstappen is pushed down the order by both Ferraris, Perez and now Bottas. As I type, Alonso also makes his way past into P2.
Turn 5 proves an issue for Russell as he locks up and spins across a painted sponsor logo. With purple tyres, he returns to the track and continues.
Stopwatch
Leclerc now proves Ferrari's pace by going fastest again with a 1m35.696s.
We finally see the hard rubber! Albon has fitted the white-walled tyres for an exploratory run.
Stopwatch
There is relative daylight at the top, with Sainz now three-tenths clear - until Verstappen goes back ahead by 0.047s with a 1m36.307s.
After setting the fastest time, Alonso is back in the garage with work being completed on his floor.
Stopwatch
Game on even more at the front! Alonso goes to the top with a 1m36.657s.
Yellow flag
A huge lockup for Albon at the end of The Strip as he sends smoke signals from both fronts.
As was always traditional before sessions were shortened to one hour, drivers are now returning to the pits for some tweaks before heading out for some long-run practice. 

The hard tyres are still yet to be used.
And here we are at the halfway point, 45 minutes gone and 45 remaining.
Stopwatch
Here comes Albon again, with personal and outright best micro-sectors flashing up. P3 for the Williams driver! He is just 0.028s off Leclerc. 

Sainz in fourth is 0.082s off the pace. This is incredibly close at present.
Hulkenberg is the third driver to gets shown the warning flag for crossing the line on pit entry.
Stopwatch
On another late run, Hamilton sets personal best sectors in all three zones, including an outright best final sector, to move up to P2, just 0.007s off Leclerc.
As it appeared that the long runs were about to begin, Albon puts in a late flying lap to move ahead of Russell into P6.
Piastri is currently the slowest driver, five seconds off the pace. McLaren team-mate Norris is also in a lowly P17, although both have recently left the pits on new medium rubber.
Stopwatch
And Leclerc tops his team-mate to make it a Ferrari 1-2 with a 1m36.660s. The track evolution is every bit as rapid as expected.
Stopwatch
Verstappen is now on the soft tyres as Sainz goes fastest with a 1m36.984s. The Spaniard looks to be improving once again on his latest tour.
Into the runoff goes Verstappen at Turn 12 - locking his left-front before spinning back around and continuing.
That's what we like to see! Verstappen and Leclerc go side-by-side along The Strip and practice what the racing could be like on Saturday night. It looks good! 

It's just a shame there's no one there to see it!
Similarly to the black and white flag shown to Gasly, Sargeant has now been shown the warning signal for crossing the line on pit entry.
Another minor off for Norris as he loops around The Sphere. Making use of the spare asphalt, he continues without issue.