Mercedes dominate FP1 with Hamilton fastest: Verstappen behind Norris
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Lewis Hamilton has topped a dusty and dirty first free practice session during the Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend. His teammate George Russell joined him at the top of the timesheet. The two were separated by less than one-tenth. Lando Norris rounded out the top three. Max Verstappen, who can win the World Championship this weekend, split the two Ferrari drivers by finishing fifth fastest.
Mercedes has often topped the timesheet on a Friday and then dropped away through the rest of the weekend. But, after a disappointing weekend in Brazil, Hamilton will be delighted with the confidence boost. Mercedes did complete these laps very late in the session when the track was at its best.
Oscar Piastri finished 8th fastest, with Perez in 10th.
What happened during FP1 in Las Vegas?
As expected, the opening laps of the session saw drivers struggle with low grip. The cars cleared the dust and dirt on the street circuit, which was open to the public earlier in the day. Track temperature dropped by 2.5c in the opening 10 minutes as cold conditions already took centre stage during the race weekend. Ocon stressed he couldn't remember driving with such low grip. Kevin Magnussen set the fastest time inside the opening 10 minutes.
Mercedes then upped the pace on the medium tyres, with Hamilton going nearly two seconds faster than [at the time] third-placed Norris. Meanwhile, Red Bull put on the soft tyres, and Verstappen had some issues with traffic. The Dutchman later caused a brief yellow flag with a tyre lock-up. McLaren's Oscar Piastri had a glitch where he couldn't shut the engine off. Once he was back in the garage, McLaren managed to shut the car down.
Mercedes led the way for much of the session, but McLaren, Ferrari and Verstappen jumped ahead inside the final 20 minutes. On the soft tyres, Mercedes returned to the top. Russell was aided by a tow in the final part of his lap but Hamilton was able to beat it a few minutes later.