After a well-deserved break, the drivers returned to their seats and their cars in Las Vegas. It is in the ultra-special setting of the city of Nevada that F1 begins its last triple header, closing the 2024 season.
An urban circuit also means a dusty circuit and with little grip at the start of the weekend, Liam Lawson even said he felt like he was riding in the rain. Almost all of the drivers started this first free practice session with medium tires.
At the start of the session, the Mercedes drivers showed themselves to be the fastest and most comfortable on the Las Vegas circuit. Lewis Hamilton, in distress in Brazil, finds himself provisionally at the top of the drivers' standings (1:31.927) ahead of his teammate as well as Charles Leclerc. The two Mercedes were then ahead of the two Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, who act as favorites for this weekend.
Having produced a superb performance at Interlagos, the Alpine are once again well positioned at the start of the session, Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon held the third and sixth best provisional times of the session.
Equipped with soft tires, the Red Bull drivers appeared in eighth and ninth place, Sergio Pérez ahead of Max Verstappen. Note that the latter can win a fourth world title this weekend if he finishes Sunday's race ahead of Lando Norris.
For his part, at mid-session, Lando Norris was positioned in fourth place in this Free Practice 1 ranking. Still in good shape, the Haas of Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hülkenberg, equipped with soft tires, appeared in third and seventh position. .
Also read: Lando Norris: “I wasn't ready to face Red Bull and Max Verstappen”
Twenty minutes from the end of the session, Charles Leclerc put on the soft tires and tried to set a fast lap. The Monegasque driver failed 0.085 seconds behind the best time, still owned by Lewis Hamilton. But on a second lap, Charles Leclerc won the provisional best time, with style (1:36.430). He was overtaken a few seconds later by Carlos Sainz (1:36.218).
On his attempt at a fast lap, Max Verstappen was only able to set the sixth time, eight tenths behind Lando Norris who, in the meantime, had set the best provisional time of the session. In a final attempt, the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell positioned themselves in first and second place in this session, demonstrating that they were going to have to be counted on this weekend 1:35.001.
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