Hamilton fastest in Las Vegas GP practice

Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time for Mercedes in Thursday's practice for the Las Vegas Grand Prix, while Formula One leader Max Verstappen struggled, finishing 17th. Verstappen, who is in contention for a fourth consecutive title, reported that his Red Bull felt "like driving on ice," as he was two seconds off the pace and struggled with tire grip. He noted the problem was tire-related, as the car lacked traction and he did not use the soft tire during his session.

McLaren’s Lando Norris, who can delay Verstappen’s title if he scores three points more than the Dutch driver on Saturday, was second fastest in the second session, while George Russell completed a British one-two-three for Mercedes. Despite the challenging conditions, Hamilton felt confident after topping both practice sessions. In the first session, Hamilton set a time of 1:35.001, 0.396 seconds ahead of Russell and nearly a second quicker than Norris. He improved his time in the second session, lapping in 1:33.825, with Norris just 0.011 seconds behind and Russell 0.190 seconds off.

Hamilton expressed satisfaction with his performance, describing it as the first practice day this season where the car felt consistently strong. However, he cautioned that the true competitive order was unclear, as teams were running different fuel loads and strategies. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz finished fourth, while teammate Charles Leclerc was fifth. Alpine’s Pierre Gasly secured sixth, and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was eighth. Verstappen's teammate, Sergio Perez, had a disappointing session, finishing 19th.

The session was briefly red-flagged when Alex Albon’s Williams stopped on track due to a fuel system issue. Valtteri Bottas also faced a five-place grid penalty for exceeding power unit component limits. The opening practice was much smoother than last year, which had been marred by a damaged Ferrari due to a loose drain cover. Verstappen can secure the championship if he outperforms Norris on Saturday.