George Russell set the fastest time in final practice for the Las Vegas Grand Prix after a loose tyre brought an early end to running.
The Mercedes driver posted the best time of the final hour of running with a 1’34.093, four tenths of a second quicker than Oscar Piastri’s McLaren. The session ended five minutes early after a red flag caused by a tyre from Alexander Albon’s Williams falling off his left-rear wheel along the high speed Strip straight.Following the heavy disruption to the opening practice sessions of the weekend, third practice began on time. The McLarens of Piastri and Lando Norris were the first out on the track, but George Russell’s Mercedes was the first to set a lap time in the session with a 1’43.603 after the McLarens immediately returned to the pit lane.
After setting the pace in the opening sessions of the weekend, Charles Leclerc returned to the top of the order on the medium tyres with a 1’36.508, with Carlos Sainz Jnr half a second behind, much as he had been for the second practice session.
Despite there being only an hour of running remaining before qualifying, Red Bull, AlphaTauri and Williams opted to remain in the garage for the first third of a session. Max Verstappen eventually ventured out onto the circuit for the first time after 20 minutes on soft compound tyres. His first push lap of the session was not as quick as the Ferraris, but after running a double cool-down his next full-speed attempt was easily quick enough to go fastest of all by just under half a second.
Sergio Perez improved to go second-fastest to his team mate, while Alexander Albon jumped up to third for Williams ahead of the Ferraris, who had set their best times on the mediums. Mercedes fitted soft tyres to both Russell and Lewis Hamilton’s cars, with Russell displacing Albon’s Williams to go third, while Hamilton was unable to beat the Ferraris on the mediums.
With just under 20 minutes remaining, the bulk of the field returned to the pits to prepare for qualifying simulation runs in the final minutes. However Mercedes stayed out, Russell improving on his third push lap on his softs to move to the top of the times by a few hundredths of a second.
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Verstappen set the fastest first sector time but abandoned his lap after a mistake into turn 12 left him having to turn around in the run off. Piastri went fastest of all with his push lap, before Russell went almost four tenths quicker to move back into the top spot.
With around five minutes remaining, Albon locked up under braking for turn five and understeered into the outside wall, causing damage to the left side of his Williams. As he recovered back to the pits, his left-rear tyre broke free of his wheel right along the Strip, rolling in front of Verstappen’s Red Bull approaching behind.
While the hazard conveniently came to a rest by the barriers, the session was eventually red-flagged with just over five minutes remaining. Race control confirmed that the session would not be resumed, signalling an end to practice.
Russell’s best time in the final ten minutes was enough to see him end the session quickest of all, with Piastri taking second for McLaren. Williams driver Logan Sargeant set the third-fastest time of the hour, with the Red Bulls of Verstappen and Perez behind him in fourth and fifth.
Albon was sixth despite his late error, with Fernando Alonso seventh for Aston Martin. Hamilton was eighth in the second Mercedes, with Valtteri Bottas in ninth for Alfa Romeo. Kevin Magnussen completed the top ten, with both Ferraris of Leclerc and Sainz well outside of the top ten in 16th and 17th, respectively.
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2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix third practice result
| P. | # | Driver | Team | Model | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | W14 | 1’34.093 | 23 | |
| 2 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren-Mercedes | MCL60 | 1’34.491 | 0.398 | 20 |
| 3 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | Williams-Mercedes | FW45 | 1’34.645 | 0.552 | 17 |
| 4 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-Honda RBPT | RB19 | 1’34.653 | 0.560 | 14 |
| 5 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull-Honda RBPT | RB19 | 1’34.706 | 0.613 | 13 |
| 6 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams-Mercedes | FW45 | 1’34.726 | 0.633 | 14 |
| 7 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin-Mercedes | AMR23 | 1’34.788 | 0.695 | 18 |
| 8 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | W14 | 1’34.853 | 0.760 | 24 |
| 9 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | C43 | 1’34.908 | 0.815 | 18 |
| 10 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | VF-23 | 1’35.067 | 0.974 | 18 |
| 11 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | MCL60 | 1’35.089 | 0.996 | 17 |
| 12 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas-Ferrari | VF-23 | 1’35.112 | 1.019 | 17 |
| 13 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin-Mercedes | AMR23 | 1’35.253 | 1.160 | 20 |
| 14 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine-Renault | A523 | 1’35.297 | 1.204 | 15 |
| 15 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | C43 | 1’35.881 | 1.788 | 15 |
| 16 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | SF-23 | 1’35.908 | 1.815 | 22 |
| 17 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Ferrari | SF-23 | 1’35.939 | 1.846 | 21 |
| 18 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT | AT04 | 1’36.087 | 1.994 | 15 |
| 19 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine-Renault | A523 | 1’36.485 | 2.392 | 12 |
| 20 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT | AT04 | 1’37.778 | 3.685 | 15 |
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2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix combined practice times
| P. | # | Driver | Team | FP1 time | FP2 time | FP3 time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1’45.497 | 1’36.890 | 1’34.093 | 64 | |
| 2 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren-Mercedes | No time | 1’36.987 | 1’34.491 | 0.398 | 57 |
| 3 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | Williams-Mercedes | No time | 1’38.140 | 1’34.645 | 0.552 | 59 |
| 4 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-Honda RBPT | 1’44.397 | 1’36.183 | 1’34.653 | 0.560 | 55 |
| 5 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull-Honda RBPT | 1’46.793 | 1’36.085 | 1’34.706 | 0.613 | 53 |
| 6 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams-Mercedes | No time | 1’36.688 | 1’34.726 | 0.633 | 58 |
| 7 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin-Mercedes | No time | 1’35.793 | 1’34.788 | 0.695 | 58 |
| 8 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’48.513 | 1’36.663 | 1’34.853 | 0.760 | 70 |
| 9 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 1’47.147 | 1’36.129 | 1’34.908 | 0.815 | 58 |
| 10 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | 1’44.261 | 1’36.917 | 1’35.067 | 0.974 | 59 |
| 11 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’48.947 | 1’36.864 | 1’35.089 | 0.996 | 53 |
| 12 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas-Ferrari | 1’43.446 | 1’36.489 | 1’35.112 | 1.019 | 54 |
| 13 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin-Mercedes | No time | 1’36.496 | 1’35.253 | 1.160 | 62 |
| 14 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1’40.909 | 1’35.265 | 1’35.908 | 1.172 | 65 |
| 15 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine-Renault | 1’45.365 | 1’37.241 | 1’35.297 | 1.204 | 57 |
| 16 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Ferrari | 1’45.824 | 1’35.782 | 1’35.939 | 1.689 | 64 |
| 17 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 1’48.822 | 1’37.656 | 1’35.881 | 1.788 | 56 |
| 18 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT | 1’45.908 | 1’37.412 | 1’36.087 | 1.994 | 61 |
| 19 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine-Renault | 1’48.253 | 1’37.134 | 1’36.485 | 2.392 | 50 |
| 20 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT | 1’48.650 | 1’37.680 | 1’37.778 | 3.587 | 59 |
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2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix
- Tost blames track inspection oversight for Sainz’s damage in Las Vegas
- Hard to repeat “rare” combination of factors behind Vegas shunt – Norris
- Las Vegas Grand Prix “got a lot more hate than it deserved” – Sargeant
- Williams’ “incredible” Vegas qualifying made us “poor” in race – Vowles
- Piastri is first rookie to take two fastest laps in a season since Hamilton
Sham (@sham)
18th November 2023, 8:45
Good lord this track is dull.