Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton opened the Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend atop the timesheets by setting the fastest time in first practice on Thursday evening.
After 2023’s issues, with practice delayed and curtailed, there were no such problems for Las Vegas’ sophomore running, as drivers racked up mileage around the streets of Nevada’s famous city.
In expectedly chilly conditions Hamilton posted a time of 1:35.001s on his final flying lap of the one-hour session to dislodge team-mate George Russell from the top of the timesheets.
Hamilton’s lap left him 0.396s clear of Russell, with third-placed Lando Norris the only other driver to finish within a second of the seven-times World Champion.
Norris must out-score Max Verstappen by three or more points on Saturday evening in order to keep his dwindling title ambitions alive.
Verstappen, who complained of steering wheel connection issues through the session, wound up in fifth position, within a tenth of Norris.
Ferrari took fourth and sixth respectively, with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz sandwiching Verstappen, while Fernando Alonso was seventh for Aston Martin.
Oscar Piastri was shuffled down to eighth place during the closing stages, leaving Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez to round out the top 10.
Several drivers ran wide at the end of the Strip but the field of 20 stayed out of major trouble throughout the course of the session.
