After a thrilling display in 2023, which saw Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen claim his 18th win of the season, ahead of Scuderia Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who himself claimed P2 after a last lap overtaken on Verstappen’s teammate, Sergio ‘Checo’ Pérez, F1 returns to Las Vegas GP.
The 2024 F1 Las Vegas GP weekend will kick off with the first of three free practice sessions (FP1).
Green light!
As the FP1 gets underway, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri is the first out on track, closely followed by Alpine’s Pierre Gasly. The other drivers are quick to follow, with teams eager to see how their tyres perform in the chilly conditions.
Just three minutes into the session, RB’s Liam Lawson comes onto the radio, complaining about the slippery conditions.
With no support series running the weekend, the F1 drivers will have to clear up the dusty track themselves at the Las Vegas GP.
These slippery conditions, made worse by the cold temperatures expected throughout the weekend, may prove challenging for the teams.
Piastri runs wide, briefly bringing out a yellow flag in Sectors 2 and 3. Fortunately, the driver escapes unscathed, and the track soon goes fully green.
The drivers are now all out on track, with Haas’ Kevin Magnussen setting a top time of 1:40.407, as the first ten minutes of the practice session come to an end.
He soon drops to second as Mercedes’ George Russell sets a time of 1:39.595, and then to third as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc goes second with a time of 1:39.855.
Almost all drivers have set a time now, with Piastri and both Alpine drivers being the only exceptions.
45 minutes remaining
With just under 45 minutes remaining, Lewis Hamilton goes top, keeping 0.454 seconds ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris, and 1.352 seconds ahead of Verstappen.
This is an important weekend for Verstappen, who, with 393 World Drivers’ Championship (WDC) points, will be hoping to repeat last year’s success and that of the recent São Paulo Grand Prix.
With 62 points separating him and his closest title rival, McLaren’s Lando Norris, in the standings, the Dutchman can claim his fourth world championship on the at the F1 Las Vegas GP if he can finish the weekend at least 60 points ahead of the Briton.
This means that the Dutchman will win the championship if he finishes ahead of Norris in any position or if neither he nor the Brit scores any points this weekend.
Verstappen will also win the championship if Norris finishes ahead of him, so long as less than 2 points are separating them.
The complete standings, with just under three-quarters of FP1 remaining are: HAM, NOR, VER, RUS, LEC, BOT, MAG, ALO, PIA, ALB, HUL, SAI, PER, TSU, COL, STR, LAW, GAS, ZHO and OCO.
Hamilton holds on to top time
With most drivers having now completed several laps around the Las Vegas Strip Circuit, the track has evolved favourably. This has allowed for improved times to be set.
However, Hamilton holds on to his position at the top of the timesheet. His time of 1:36.927 sees him keep ahead of his teammate, Russell, despite the latter improving to within 0.132 seconds of the former.
Both Mercedes drivers remain at least half a second faster than Ferrari’s Leclerc who sits third, 0.715 seconds behind Russell.
Ferrari more than half a second behind Mercedes
Leclerc, who currently sits third in the WDC with 307 points, will also be hoping for a successful weekend around the Las Vegas Strip Circuit.
Though out of contention for the title, Leclerc still has a chance to finish the season second in the championship. With just 24 points separating himself and second-place Norris, the Ferrari driver can finish ahead of the McLaren one if he can outperform the latter by an average of eight points per race weekend.
His teammate, Carlos Sainz, on the other hand, will be most keen to avoid a repeat of his 2023 misfortunes.
During the first free practice session of the 2023 Las Vegas GP, Sainz’s SP-23 was heavily damaged after an incident with a loose manhole cover.
As a result of the damage to his engine, Sainz required a change of his element store elements. This resulted in him taking a 10-place grid penalty for exceeding his quota of these elements.
Sainz ultimately finished the race sixth despite having qualified P2, before the penalty.
Williams’ woes
Like Ferrari’s Sainz, both will be keen to avoid further damage to their cars. Following the significant damage to both FW46 machines, there had been some speculation over the team’s ability to complete the season.
However, on November 15th, the team, as reported by Lawrence Barretto, confirmed that they would have both cars ready for the Las Vegas GP.
After the monumental effort by team personnel to repair the cars, both Alexander Albon and Franco Colapinto will be under heavy pressure to avoid further damage to either car.
Despite this, Albon insists that he will not be thinking about the team’s difficulties. He states that to do would increase the risk of further accidents.
There have been no crashes from either driver yet, but both have received black and white flags after being noted for crossing the white line at the pit entry. The pit entry may be another contentious issue for the drivers this weekend, as George Russell complains that it is “almost impossible to see.”
30 minutes remaining
With half of the session now complete, the standings are: HAM, RUS, NOR, GAS, LEC, SAIN, OCO, PER, VER, PIA, ALO, MAG, TSU, LAW, STR, HIL, BOT, ALB, COL and ZHO.
With just under 18 minutes left in the session, Charles Leclerc goes top with a time of 1:36.430. He soon drops to second as Sainz goes 0.212 seconds faster, despite a near miss with Colapinto which saw a yellow flag being brought out momentarily.
5-place grid drop for Bottas
Another strong performer from the session has been Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas, who will be out of seat at the end of the season. Bottas will be one to watch this weekend, with the driver typically performing well on slippery tracks.
However, Bottas’ weekend may be slightly more complicated than desired.
The Finn will incur a 5-place grid drop for the race after his C44 was outfitted with a 4th energy store.
15 minutes remaining
With just under 15 minutes left in the session, Norris goes top, setting a fastest time of 1:35.954. Leclerc, who appears to be a strong contender for the race win, sits second, just 0.053 seconds behind the McLaren Driver.
The complete standings are: NOR, LEC, SAI, PIA, MAG, HAM, RUS, OCO, HUL, GAS, BOT, PER, ZHO, VER, STR, TSU, COL, ALO, LAW and ALB.
Alpine’s Pierre Gasly goes P5, just 0.524 seconds behind McLaren’s Piastri. The Frenchman has shown excellent form in the recent race weekends, securing his highest result of the season, P3, during the recent São Paulo Grand Prix.
His teammate, Esteban Ocon, who finished P2, in Brazil, has also enjoyed periods of strong performance during this evening’s session.
With just under five minutes left in the session, he sits P12 but will be attempting to improve his time.
2 minutes remaining
With just about 2 minutes remaining in the first practice session, Lewis Hamilton retakes his place at the top of the timesheet. However, he drops to second as Russell goes 0.090 seconds faster to set a time of 1:35.397. Norris rounds out the top 3, with Leclerc in P4.
End of session
The checkered flag falls, bringing an end to FP1 of the Las Vegas GP. However, Hamilton is still on a fast lap, going purple in both sectors 1 and 2. He reclaims the top spot ahead of his teammate with a time of 1:35.001.
The final standings of the session are: HAM, RUS, NOR, LEC, VER, SAI, ALO, PAI, GAS, PER, MAG, STR, ALB, OCO, HUL, BOT, COL, ZHO, TSU, LAW.
The Las Vegas GP will return at 2200 hours local time for a late-night FP2.
