George Russell wrapped up the practice hat-trick for Mercedes in Las Vegas, guaranteed the P1 by a late red flag as Lance Stroll’s AMR24 shut down with the Canadian coming to a halt on the side
of the track.

While Mercedes had the better of their rivals on the soft Pirelli tyres, Max Verstappen on the mediums complained that his RB20 was “undriveable” and that was “going to crash”. He recovered on his soft tyre run to finish P5.

George Russell wrapped the practice hat-trick for Mercedes

After a busy Thursday night, it was a slow start to Friday’s final practice with only one driver setting a lap time in the first 15 minutes.

That was Sergio Perez, who got the timesheet rolling with a 1:41.1, but reported that the track conditions were “miles off” compared to yesterday. Liam Lawson had the same complaint as he returned to the VCARB garage after a single lap.

Several teams, including Mercedes, Aston Martin and VCARB, sent their drivers out for a lap or two, potentially to scrub tyres for the race.

Max Verstappen was the second driver to post a time, but was slower than Perez after a lock-up on his out-lap and a moment at Turn 14 as he struggled for grip. Getting heat into his tyres and finding grip, Verstappen went quickest on the medium tyres. Worryingly for Red Bull, he reported that his front was “dead” after just six laps.

F1 2024: Team-mate head-to-head stats

👉F1 2024: Head-to-head qualifying record between team-mates

👉F1 2024: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

The action heated up with McLaren leading the way at the midway point of the session, Oscar Piastri up in P1 with a 1:35.7 which put him a full second up on Lando Norris. Valtteri Bottas was third with the top seven running the soft Pirellis.

Kevin Magnussen went quickest with a 1:35.6, Lewis Hamilton had a twitch and traffic on his way to fifth place and Verstappen complained that his RB20 was “undriveable” as he had yet another moment at Turn 5. He added: “I can’t drive it, I’m going to crash.” He pitted, down in 20th place on the timesheet with Perez P19.

At the front, Thursday’s pace-setters Mercedes went 1-2 with Hamilton ahead of George Russell, Carlos Sainz was third ahead of Magnussen, Pierre Gasly and Nico Hulkenberg.

The traditional qualifying sims kicked off in the final 15 minutes with Russell bolting on a new set of soft Pirellis and going P1.

Red Bull switched to the red-walled tyres for the first time in FP3 but Verstappen aborted his first lap before going fastest on his next, a 1:34.1. He wasn’t P1 for long, Sainz coming through and then Russell retaking it.

The red flag, the first of the session, was out with seven minutes remaining as Lance Stroll came to a halt on the side of the track as his AMR24 shut down on him. His Aston Martin’s red flag, the ERS warning, continued to flash meaning the mechanics weren’t able to touch the car.

The track was green with one minute to go, giving the drivers time to venture out for a practice start. Perez didn’t get out in time.

Times

1 George RUSSELL 1:33.570
2 Oscar PIASTRI +0.215
3 Carlos SAINZ +0.348
4 Lando NORRIS +0.438
5 Max VERSTAPPEN +0.567
6 Lewis HAMILTON +0.771
7 Alexander ALBON +0.837
8 Franco COLAPINTO +1.153
9 Kevin MAGNUSSEN +1.313
10 Pierre GASLY +1.335
11 Nico HULKENBERG +1.338
12 Charles LECLERC +1.371
13 Sergio PEREZ +1.491
14 Esteban OCON +1.890
15 Fernando ALONSO +2.368
16 Yuki TSUNODA +2.645
17 Valtteri BOTTAS +2.842
18 Liam LAWSON +2.974
19 Lance STROLL +3.380
20 ZHOU Guanyu +3.418

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