Hamilton tops both practice sessions in Vegas

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15

Lewis Hamilton led both practice sessions on Friday at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, with the seven-time champion topping the timesheets ahead of teammate George Russell in the first session and McLaren’s Lando Norris in the second.

Max Verstappen, who could secure his fourth world title this weekend, had a tough day and finished 17th fastest. The Red Bull driver needs to avoid losing more than two points to Norris in Saturday's race to clinch the title.

Hamilton was 0.011 seconds quicker than Norris in the second session and 0.396 seconds ahead of Russell, who finished third. Despite the strong showing, Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff cautioned that their pace might not be representative of the weekend’s overall performance, noting that their car excels in low-grip conditions.

Verstappen’s struggle for grip was evident, as he finished two seconds off the pace, having not used the soft tires that other leading drivers employed for their qualifying simulations.

Russell ended the second session in third, followed by Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc. Alpine's Pierre Gasly, Haas' Kevin Magnussen, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, Haas' Nico Hulkenberg, and Red Bull's Yuki Tsunoda rounded out the top 10.

On race pace, Ferrari, the pre-race favorites, seemed to have a slight edge over McLaren and Verstappen. The session was briefly halted by a red flag after Alex Albon's Williams stopped at Turn Six due to a fuel system issue.