{"id":15281,"date":"2025-11-21T12:12:36","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T12:12:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/?p=15281"},"modified":"2025-11-21T12:12:36","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T12:12:36","slug":"las-vegas-gp-lando-norris-fastest-by-three-hundredths-in-an-interrupted-second-practice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/las-vegas-gp-lando-norris-fastest-by-three-hundredths-in-an-interrupted-second-practice\/","title":{"rendered":"LAS VEGAS GP \u2013 Lando Norris fastest by three hundredths in an interrupted second practice"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lando Norris was fastest in an interrupted second practice for the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the championship leader set a 33.602 to put his McLaren three hundredth faster than Kimi Antonelli. However, the session was cut short by a manhole cover coming loose.<\/p>\n

Norris\u2019s fastest lap may dispel the concerns that the circuit doesn\u2019t suit the McLaren, as he went over a second faster than Charles Leclerc\u2019s fastest time in FP1. But the caveat is that Leclerc his Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton, his titles rivals Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen, or George Russell completed their soft run.<\/p>\n

Norris and Antonelli moved to the top of the times on their final qualifying simulation. That left Verstappen ninth, half a second off and Piastri nearly nine tenths off in fourteenth.<\/p>\n

Leclerc was third over a tenth and a half off the outright pace as he was a tenth ahead of Nico Hulkenberg. McLaren has largely been the class of the field this year but the street circuit on the Strip has not been a venue which has suited their car in the last two years<\/p>\n

The first red flag came out as a loose cover was reported at Top Golf the final corner (Turn Seventeen). But there was not much running for the Ferrari driver as he stopped on track at the Sphere with a gearbox issue.<\/p>\n

Once those checks were completed, the session resumed with just under six minutes left. However, the red flags were back out three minutes later, and that second stoppage brought an effective end to the session. Similar issues in 2023 saw this session postponed until 02:30am (10:30GMT) on Friday morning<\/p>\n

The delays and disruptions meant a sense of the competitive picture was only partially formed, especially as there was no time for the race simulation runs that normally take place in the final minutes of the session.<\/p>\n

Norris, who was fastest, said, \u201cI think we have a better feeling in the car than last year. That was felt on lap one. Some good feelings. Not a lot of running in the end, not really any high fuel running, but the pace is there. It’s pretty tight between a lot of people, and many people didn’t get their laps in. We made some steps forward from FP1 to FP2 and hopefully we can do some more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Antonelli added, \u201cOur first day on track here in Las Vegas was a good one. I enjoyed learning the track lap-by-lap, and I felt good in the car throughout. We\u2019ve still got some work to do if we want to be challenging at the very front this weekend, but it was a solid start. The track evolution was a surprise to me. The circuit was very green in FP1 and ramped up so much over the course of the day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hulkenberg was nearly a hundredth and a half ahead of the two Racing Bull\u2019s with Isack Hadjar going eighth thousandths faster than his teammate Liam Lawson. But many drivers struggled throughout the session for grip thanks to the cold weather and moisture in the air.<\/p>\n

Russell had to settle for seventh last year\u2019s race winner four tenths off the outright pace as he went three hundredths faster than Alex Albon, while Verstappen was two hundredths ahead of Lewis Hamilton as they completed the top ten. But Verstappen, Hamilton and Piastri didn\u2019t set a time on soft tyres.<\/p>\n

Verstappen cannot be counted out as he won at Monza and Baku in September, both tracks with similar characteristics to Las Vegas, high-speed straights into big braking zones and slow-speed corners, with relatively low grip. But Verstappen said the circuits were less comparable than they appeared at first glance.<\/p>\n

Lance Stroll put his Aston Martin eleventh as he missed out on the top ten by six hundredths, but the Canadian was just under two tenths ahead of Pierre Gasly with Carlos Sainz six hundredths further behind. Piastri was fourteenth, going two tenths faster than Yuki Tsunoda.<\/p>\n

Franco Colapinto put his Alpine sixteenth, going a tenth and a half faster than Ollie Bearman, with the Haas spilt by Fernando Alonso who was two tenths ahead of Esteban Ocon. The Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto completed the field.<\/p>\n

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