RUSSELL TOPS FREE PRACTICE 3 AS MCLARENS AVOID QUALY SIMULATIONS
George Russell was fastest in the third and final practice session at the Las Vegas Grand Prix. The conditions were tricky, and both McLarens ended the session at the bottom of the times.
Because Thursday’s second practice had been interrupted by two red flags for track repairs, Friday’s session was important for the drivers. The track was still damp from earlier rain, so Oscar Piastri was the first to go out on intermediate tyres. Grip was low, and Alex Albon even went off at Turn 5 before returning to the track.
Piastri held the fastest time after 15 minutes, but Lando Norris soon beat him with a 1:43.078 lap. Carlos Sainz suggested that slick tyres might be possible soon, though no one had switched yet. Yuki Tsunoda was also told to return to the pits due to a problem with his car.
With a bit more than half an hour left, Max Verstappen was warned that more rain might be coming. Norris took a risk and put on soft tyres but struggled with the still-wet surface. Despite concerns from engineers about the soft tyres not being suitable, Piastri also tried them.
As more drivers moved to slicks, Lewis Hamilton went fastest with a 1:42.809. He had a close call when he almost hit Liam Lawson but avoided contact. Race Control looked at the incident and chose not to investigate further.
With 20 minutes left, four drivers still had not set a lap: Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll, Pierre Gasly, and Nico Hulkenberg. Meanwhile, lap times kept dropping.
The track got very busy near the end as everyone switched to soft tyres. Verstappen took the top spot with a 1:35.646, but Lawson briefly took P1 by just 0.009 seconds. The order changed quickly in the final minutes. Verstappen returned to first place, but Russell beat him with a 1:34.054.
Verstappen, 0.227 seconds behind Russell, complained about traffic after going wide. Albon finished third after a chaotic finish to the session.
Isack Hadjar was fourth, followed by Hamilton, Kimi Antonelli, Lawson, Stroll, Alonso, and Gasly rounding out the top 10. Ollie Bearman took P11, ahead of Sainz, Gabriel Bortoleto, Esteban Ocon, and Charles Leclerc.
Attention now moves to Qualifying, scheduled for 8 p.m. local time.
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