A disruptive Friday and cold conditions leave a wide-open fight for pole position for the Las Vegas Grand Prix with at least four teams targeting the top spot.
Championship leader Lando Norris topped second practice by just 0.029s from Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc at 0.161s in third but the other expected front-runners were unable to complete a qualifying simulation on the soft tyres due to red flags.
There were two red flags in the last 20 minutes so race control could check a possible loose drain cover in the final sector which also denied drivers from practicing a race stint simulation.
Las Vegas has been McLaren’s weakest track over the last two years, with neither Norris or Oscar Piastri qualifying or finishing a race in the top five, but the British driver says they are “fighting for pole”.
“I think we have a better feeling in the car than last year. That was felt on lap one,” he said.
“Some good feelings. Not a lot of running in the end, not really any high fuel running, but the pace is there.
“It’s pretty tight between a lot of people and many people didn’t get their laps in. We made some steps forward from FP1 to FP2 and hopefully we can do some more.”
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Piastri added: “The car has got decent pace but not that many people had a run on the softs. Plenty of positives and things to look through though.”
Norris could give himself an opportunity to win his first World Championship with a strong race in Las Vegas as he leads the drivers’ standings by 24 points over Piastri and 49 points over Max Verstappen.
If Norris outscores Verstappen by at least nine points on Sunday, the reigning world champion’s title defence will officially be over with a maximum of 58 points available from the last two rounds in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
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Red Bull have been strong on low downforce tracks this season but Verstappen thinks the cold Vegas temperatures, which is forecast to be just 9C on Saturday and Sunday, means that won’t necessarily translate into this weekend but you can never discount the Dutchman.
Verstappen said: “It [the car] is OK. Just difficult to understand what to do with the interruptions. We still need to improve a little bit to find more grip out there.
“The track is improving quite a bit every session, so we will focus on that to see how we operate the tyres in qualifying and the race.”
Hamilton expects few changes needed for Ferrari
Ferrari’s best hopes of not ending 2025 winless will come this weekend and both Lewis Hamilton and Leclerc were quietly confident about the car’s pace.
The slow-speed corners and long straights play into the hands of the Ferrari, which Leclerc showed by topping first practice.
“We are not in a bad place. We need to wait and see. Mercedes is very strong, McLaren and Red Bull are also in the fight, so I think it will be tight,” said Leclerc, who suffered a late gearbox issue in second practice.
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“I just hope we can be up front and be in the fight for pole, so it’s been a positive Friday. It’s all about anticipating what the conditions will be like and making sure we start on the right foot.
“I have pretty clear ideas of what I want to do with the car to improve it, so we will see if these were the right choices.”
Hamilton is yet to stand on the podium as a Ferrari driver and has also never gone a season without finishing a race in the top three.
The seven-time world champion trailed Leclerc throughout both practice sessions on Friday but says the car felt “pretty decent”.
“I had a good FP1. I just didn’t get a lap in and the same thing in FP2,” he said.
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“We improved the car in FP2. I felt strong in the first sector but yellow flags and red flags got in the way unfortunately, but everyone is in the same boat.
“But I got some good learnings out there and I’m excited for tomorrow. We probably won’t make many changes tonight because I’m happy with the car.”
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Russell plays down Mercedes expectations
Mercedes dominated last year’s Las Vegas Grand Prix with George Russell converting pole position into victory as he led a one-two for the team.
Russell was on course to beat Norris’ pace-setting lap time in second practice until the first red flag came just before he approached the final corner.
Mercedes generally are competitive in cold conditions but Russell says it’s “definitely not a slam dunk” for the Silver Arrows in Las Vegas.
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“We are in the mix. We have to be realistic. There was a lot of expectations on us coming into this weekend,” he said.
“We changed the car a lot since last year. We have definitely made it a better car over the course of the season but maybe it hasn’t made it as competitive as we were 12 months ago here.
“We are still there or thereabouts but it was close. Lando was quick, Verstappen and Leclerc were quick in FP1, Kimi was quick, so it will be close.
“I don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. We weren’t exactly setting the timesheets in fire. We are there or thereabouts.”
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Antonelli, on his first Las Vegas outing, thinks track evolution will be a major factor in Qualifying but the usual issues of traffic or an untimely yellow or red flag mean the drivers can’t risk it all by being the last driver to set a lap.
“It was incredible, the [track] evolution, so we expect the same tomorrow,” said the 19-year-old Italian.
“We need to keep evolving with the grip and adjust the car to the track. In Qualifying, it’s one of those sessions you want to be last on the track but it’s tricky with red flags, so it’s about finding the right balance.”
Sky Sports F1’s Las Vegas GP schedule
Saturday November 22
12.15am: Las Vegas GP Practice Three (session starts at 12.30am)*
2.10am: F1 Academy Race One*
3am: Las Vegas GP Qualifying build-up*
4am: LAS VEGAS GP QUALIFYING*
6am: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook*
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Sunday November 23
12.15am: F1 Academy Race Two
2.30am: Grand Prix Sunday: Las Vegas GP build-up*
4am: THE LAS VEGAS GRAND PRIX*
6am: Chequered Flag: Las Vegas GP reaction*
7am: Ted’s Notebook*
*also live on Sky Sports Main Event
Formula 1’s thrilling title race continues with the Las Vegas Grand Prix this weekend, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime
