Thursday Report - Norris leads disrupted second practice in Vegas

Lando Norris
© McLaren

Lando Norris set the fastest time in a heavily interrupted second practice for the Las Vegas Grand Prix, heading a session twice halted for concerns over a loose manhole cover at Turn 17. The McLaren driver’s benchmark 1m33.602s on soft tyres came before the first red flag and ultimately survived the late stoppages that prevented a final round of representative soft-tyre laps.

Light rain before the session left the opening minutes quiet, with drivers waiting for the surface to stabilise. Once running began, the early sequence of medium-tyre laps built steadily toward Charles Leclerc’s 1m34.802s FP1 marker. Oscar Piastri was the first to beat that earlier time, before Leclerc restored order with a 1m33.763s medium-tyre lap that temporarily placed Ferrari on top.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s first push on softs reset the standard with a 1m33.631s, but Norris immediately improved by 0.029s, his 1m33.602s lap placing McLaren at the front moments before the initial red flag arrived with 21 minutes left. After a 15-minute delay to inspect the Turn 17 drain cover, the field had just six minutes of running before the second stoppage ended the session entirely.

The curtailed final phase meant several drivers could not exploit their tyre preparation or run plans. Leclerc’s session ended prematurely even before the second red flag, the Ferrari driver pulling off at Turn 5 with a suspected gearbox issue after being instructed not to shift gears. His earlier 1m33.763s on mediums nevertheless held up for third, behind Norris and Antonelli.

Nico Hülkenberg continued Sauber’s encouraging form with fourth on 1m33.879s, just ahead of Isack Hadjar, whose 1m33.893s on softs kept him narrowly in front of Racing Bulls team-mate Liam Lawson’s 1m33.901s. George Russell was seventh for Mercedes with a 1m34.037s on mediums, while Alex Albon placed Williams eighth on 1m34.067s.

Max Verstappen finished ninth after a 1m34.105s medium-tyre lap, and Lewis Hamilton completed the top 10 with 1m34.127s for Ferrari.

Lance Stroll followed in 11th (1m34.191s), ahead of Pierre Gasly’s Alpine (1m34.373s) and Carlos Sainz’s Williams (1m34.435s). Piastri ended a subdued 14th on 1m34.493s, with Yuki Tsunoda’s Red Bull 15th on 1m34.692s.

Behind them, Alpine rookie Franco Colapinto logged 1m34.824s, Oliver Bearman’s Haas produced 1m34.986s, Fernando Alonso managed 1m35.012s for Aston Martin, Esteban Ocon recorded 1m35.228s, and Gabriel Bortoleto rounded out the order with a 1m35.499s hard-tyre effort.

The uncertain surface conditions and repeated stoppages will leave FP3 as the first genuine indicator of the competitive order ahead of qualifying.