Mercedes Dominates Las Vegas GP Practice: Key Insights and Performance Highlights

Mercedes Dominates Las Vegas GP Practice: Key Insights and Performance Highlights

November 22, 2024 Catherine Williams - Chief Editor Sports

Mercedes dominated the first practice session for the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton set the fastest lap time, clocking in at 1 minute 35.001 seconds. This lap was nearly one second quicker than the next fastest driver, highlighting Mercedes’ strong performance on the track.

The session took place on a dusty Thursday night, which may affect the representativeness of the results for the rest of the weekend. Despite this, Mercedes held a 1-2 position for most of the practice. They lost the lead momentarily when other teams switched to soft tires but regained it when Hamilton and teammate George Russell did the same.

Hamilton’s final lap was 0.396 seconds faster than Russell’s. Lando Norris finished in third place, nearly one second behind Hamilton. The Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz placed fourth and sixth, respectively, with Leclerc running an experimental floor. Max Verstappen in a Red Bull car occupied the fifth position.

Practice 1 Results:

  1. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) – 1m35.001s
  2. George Russell (Mercedes) – +0.396s
  3. Lando Norris (McLaren-Mercedes) – +0.953s
  4. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – +1.006s
  5. Max Verstappen (Red Bull-Honda RBPT) – +1.037s
  6. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) – +1.217s
  7. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin-Mercedes) – +1.261s
  8. Oscar Piastri (McLaren-Mercedes) – +1.450s
  9. Pierre Gasly (Alpine-Renault) – +1.477s
  10. Sergio Pérez (Red Bull-Honda RBPT) – +1.535s
  11. Kevin Magnussen (Haas-Ferrari) – +1.810s
  12. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin-Mercedes) – +1.816s
  13. Alex Albon (Williams-Mercedes) – +1.947s
  14. Esteban Ocon (Alpine-Renault) – +2.151s
  15. Nico Hülkenberg (Haas-Ferrari) – +2.199s
  16. Valtteri Bottas (Sauber-Ferrari) – +2.764s
  17. Franco Colapinto (Williams-Mercedes) – +3.024s
  18. Guanyu Zhou (Sauber-Ferrari) – +3.349s
  19. Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull-Honda RBPT) – +3.573s
  20. Liam Lawson (Red Bull-Honda RBPT) – +3.729s

This practice session set the stage for an exciting race weekend ahead. Fans look forward to seeing how teams will adapt and perform as conditions change.