Lewis Hamilton was quickest for the second consecutive session as the first day of running in Las Vegas came to a close.
However, a red flag intervention when many of Hamilton’s rivals were set to post personal best laps on soft tyres meant Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri were left further down the order than they should have been.
Conditions for the second practice session of the evening were even cooler than the first, with ambient temperatures down to 11C. An hour’s worth of running had helped to provide at least some rubber down on the racing line, but grip levels were still low.
As with the opening session, the biggest challenge for drivers appeared to be getting their cars stopped around the many heavy braking zones around the lap. Both Verstappen and Hamilton ran off track at the biggest of these into turn 14 at the end of the Strip, while Lando Norris had a brief off at turn 12, the scene of his race-ending crash in last year’s grand prix.
Alexander Albon covered only three laps in the first half of the session after a fuel system problem left him stranded in the garage. The Williams mechanics worked on the car and Albon was sent back out onto the circuit. However, he only got as far as turn six before having to pull off track, the problem obviously not fixed.
The red flag meant both Verstappen and Piastri were forced to abandon their soft tyre runs as they looked set to improve on their personal bests. Hamilton had just lowered the quickest time to a 1’33.825 when Albon’s Williams came to a stop. Norris was came close to displacing Hamilton from the top of the times, lapping just one-hundredth of a second slower.
George Russell was inside the top three for the second consecutive session, ahead of both Ferraris of Carlos Sainz Jnr and Charles Leclerc. Pierre Gasly was sixth for Alpine, with Oscar Piastri left sandwiched between the two Haas cars in eighth. Yuki Tsunoda was the last driver to fit inside the top ten.
Both Red Bulls were well done the order, with Verstappen in 17th and Sergio Perez only 19th. However, neither Red Bull driver returned to the soft tyres after the red flag interrupted their earlier effort.
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2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix second practice result
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2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix
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