FP1: Hamilton leads Mercedes 1-2 during first practice in Las Vegas

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton set the pace during Thursday evening’s first free practice session for the Las Vegas Grand Prix, comfortably leading the way from team mate George Russell and the McLaren of Lando Norris.

With the sun having set and the floodlights illuminating the track, drivers promptly headed out when FP1 began at 1830 local time to get a feel for the early-weekend grip levels – bringing plenty of slips and slides in the cool, slippery conditions.

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Championship contenders Max Verstappen and Norris were no exception, dramatically misjudging their entries to Turn 14 and taking to the run-off, but both escaped unharmed at the start of what could be the deciding event in the 2024 title race.

Elsewhere, Williams drivers Alex Albon and Franco Colapinto – competing after a mammoth effort from the team to repair their heavily-damaged cars from Interlagos – were both noted for failing to follow the Race Director’s instructions and crossing the white line at the pit entry.

At the halfway mark, it was Hamilton who led the way from team mate Russell and the aforementioned Norris as he attempted to put a challenging weekend in Brazil behind him – one that initially left the seven-time champion feeling like “I didn’t want to come back”.

As drivers started transitioning to soft tyres, Norris brought the benchmark down to a 1m 35.954s, just ahead of Ferrari pair Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, with Verstappen back in sixth – behind Oscar Piastri and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly – as he reported a steering wheel “connection issue”.

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Mercedes made their move to the red-marked rubber slightly later, leading to a 1m 35.619s from Russell and a new P1 time, more than three-tenths quicker than Norris, with a subsequent improvement to 1m 35.397s edging out Hamilton’s first effort.

Hamilton, though, would also find more time on his second lap, going purple through two of the three sectors – and setting a new personal best in the other – to post a 1m 35.001s and finish some four-tenths clear at the top of the timesheets.

As such, the Silver Arrows ended the session in a dominant one-two formation, followed by Norris, Leclerc, Verstappen, Sainz and Fernando Alonso, who put his Aston Martin ahead of Piastri, Gasly and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez in the final top-10 positions.

Approaching what look set to be his final three Grands Prix, Kevin Magnussen showed flashes of pace for Haas en route to 11th place, just in front of Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin, the lead Williams of Albon and the other Alpine of Esteban Ocon.

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Nico Hulkenberg was 15th in his VF-24, followed by Valtteri Bottas, who will take a five-place grid penalty for a new power unit component, Colapinto’s Williams, the second Kick Sauber of Zhou Guanyu and RB pair Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson, who made a low-key start to the weekend.

Drivers and teams will now regroup in the paddock to dig through the data before returning to action for second practice, which is scheduled to get under way at 2200 local time.