Cars go out on track again for the final practices session ahead of Qualifying. Will Mercedes be fastest again in FP3 at the F1 Las Vegas GP?
In spite of their struggles in the previous sessions, Red Bull drivers are still sporting the same rear wing which sees them losing almost five tenths on the straight.
Red Bull out first
Perez is among the first drivers out on track with Zhou Guanyu, whereas Gasly and both Williams cars remain in the garages for more fine tuning. The Mexican driver on the radio still mentions issues with the grip, with Racing Bulls’s Liam Lawson brining up the slipperiness of the track as well.
Perez sets the first timed lap in 1:41.941s in FP3 at the F1 Las Vegas GP.
The Aston Martin drivers and Russell take a couple of laps on track, but it’s short lasted as Alonso immediately returns to the pits, mentioning the intensity of the cold. Thirteen minutes inti the session, Verstappen and Tsunoda are the only drivers out on track, scrubbing their tyres for a short stint.
Alpine is working on Gasly’s front left brakes. The extremely cold weather is an added challenge for all drivers on the grid as Verstappen is seen locking up on the pit exit on his new medium tyres.
A quiet start
Twenty minutes into the session, the majority of the drivers has not been out on track yet, mostly due to the lack of grip caused by the very low track temperature of 17°C. Verstappen goes second fastest in 1:42.180s.
Lando Norris joins the Red Bull drivers on track meanwhile, Perez and Verstappen lower their lap times by half a second, with the new benchmark set by Perez 1:41.645s.
Zhou and Piastri exit the pits as Verstappen is the first driver to set a lap in the 1:40s. Norris out on the softs set a lap in the1:41 s with two purple sectors but ran wide off track at the final corners.
Tsunoda, on the softs as well, signs the fastest lap with 34 minutes to go in the session in 1:37.517s, but his performance is improved by the McLaren drivers shortly after, with Piastri signing a 1:35.759s.
30 minutes in
At the halfway point of the session the majority of the drivers exit in the Las Vegas cold air, including yesterday’s practise leader Lewis Hamilton, who almost came in contact with a much slower Racing Bulls car.
The championship leader, who is on a quest to secure his fourth title in a row, caused a brief yellow flag by spinning out of track into the runoff. He then opened up on the radio, mentioning the car’s undriveability and the fact that if he keeps driving he will crash the car out. He pits from P20.
Williams’ s Colapinto spun out in the runoff as well. With 25 minutes to go Hulkenberg leads with a 1:35.366s, followed by Magnussen, Leclerc, Russell, Sainz, Hamilton, Piastri, Gasly, Ocon and Colapinto to round off the top ten.
Ferrari’s Leclerc goes fastest but not for long. Magnussen becomes the first driver to sign a lap in the 1:34s.
Mercedes fastest again
Many drivers suffer from lockups while exiting the pits, caused by the amount f dust on the lane. Russell complains about Zhou’s Sauber car slowing down ahead of him as Hamilton lowers the benchmark to 1:34.565s. The younger Brits goes faster by 0.010s, with the Haas drivers and Leclerc rounding off the top 5.
With 20 minutes left of track time, Sainz moves up to P3. Left on track are Hamilton, the Ferraris, Hulkenberg, Albon and the Alpines. The seven times World Champion returns in thee lead, but his teammate takes the top step of the podium from him shortly after with a 1:34218s.
The Red Bull drivers attempt to set a flying lap, but Verstappen backs off and Perez is over a second slower than the Mercedes driver’s best effort. Verstappen’s following attempt is successful as he becomes the session leader in 1:34,137s with nine minutes ro go.
The Dutch driver returned on the radio to express his pleasure with the new car feeling he got.
A late red flag
With seven minutes to go Lance Stroll stopped on track, with a red flag issued to remove the car as all the drivers were improving in the late stage of the session, including Leclerc who was on a double purple lap attempt.
The Canadian driver’s car suddenly shut down on track, with power cutting and his screen turning off at Turn 12.
Russell’s Mercedes is on top of F1 Las Vegas GP in 1:343.570s, followed by Piastri 0.215s slower and Sainz. Norris and Verstappen round off the top 5, with Hamilton, Albon, Colapinto, Magnussen and Gasly completing the top 10.
The session resumed for less than a minute. Drivers only had the time to get out on track in order to practise their starts, without having the chance to improve their performances.
It was a very tight fit as all drivers queued up to return out, but Perez got caught up in traffic and did not manage to resume the session.
Tsunoda and Lawson almost came into contact, as the Japanese slowed down on track and Lawson ran off to avoid him.
