F1 Las Vegas GP Live Commentary and Updates – FP1

While the track is never going to fall completely silent during a session this weekend, half the grid have returned to the pits, resulting in a quieter track. 

The first black and white flag of the weekend goes to Colapinto. Currently in 18th, he failed to follow the race director’s event notes and crossed the white line on pit entry. 

Proving how difficult the conditions are, Verstappen runs deep at the end of The Strip following a heavy lock up – his Red Bull screaming as it slid past the cameras. 

Celebrating the fact that F1 Academy will race in Vegas next year, The Sphere is currently lit up with the current drivers that make up the grid. 

Both Aston Martins have been in the pits with a small repair on Alonso’s car and plenty of work taking place on the floor and right rear of Stroll’s car.

“My God,” says Verstappen as experiences traffic at what can only be described as a suboptimal location. 

We’re now well below the 1m40s, with Hamilton now top from Mercedes team-mate Russell on a 1m36.927s. How far can we go?

Zhou is the latest driver to cause the yellows to fly, running into the run off after locking up at the end of The Strip. 

Riding on board with Norris, you can see the lack of grip, as his McLaren slithers around the Las Vegas layout. He’s not the only one struggling either, with yellow flags cropping up as the runoff zones are being called into action. 

Moving away from simply being a timing ticker, some drivers are pitting to discard medium tyres and fit fresh, warmer medium tyres. Not something you often see in FP1, but a sign of the cool air and track temps. 

Magnussen is showing no fear in this session, mixing it at the front and displacing Hamilton with a 1m40.407s.

These times are falling by the moment, with Leclerc now the top man on a 1m.41.900s. Or he was, as Verstappen drops him back before Hamilton takes to the top on a 1m41.585s.

One early observation is the amount of dust that is being kicked up along The Strip. That road was open to the public just a couple of hours ago and it’s filthy. 

Showing the level of evolution we can expect, Magnussen now goes 1/5s clear at the front on mediums, with a 1m42.645s. 

That effort is immediately pushed down the order as Verstappen now sets the marker of 1m44.239s on soft rubber. No messing around from the champion-elect. 

A 1m55.626s is Zhou’s effort to begin the timing screen tick over. 

But here comes those late starters now, with Albon alone in the pits. 

Aston Martin is holding back from sending out Stroll and Alonso, with the pair joined only by Albon and Hulkenberg in the garages still.

Speaking of which, the air temp is 14.4C, with track temps of 16.2C. These will only decrease as the night continues. 

Piastri leads the field out as drivers seek an early look at how little grip there is in the low, low temperatures. 

Here we go! FP1 is under way in Las Vegas! 

We’re three minutes from getting going with FP1 and the fun stuff beginning. Somehow, it doesn’t quite feel like this is only the second time we’ll be racing around this particular layout. 

And although there are 11 team garages this weekend, it will only be the regular 10 teams running, with APX GP completing further filming for the Apple F1 movie ahead of the session. 

You may also notice some different-looking liveries, with Sauber, Alpine and Williams all sporting new looks to different degrees. Your spotters guide is here: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/which-f1-teams-are-running-a-special-livery-for-the-2024-las-vegas-gp/10675012/ 

Even though we’re in the night and the sparks will be flying, there won’t be so many this weekend, after the FIA clamped down on certain skid block practices. Full details are here:

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/fia-clamps-down-on-skid-block-f1-loophole-for-las-vegas-gp/10674839/ 

Just like Carlos Sainz especially, we hope that the opening session will run trouble-free. But, in each session of the Brazilian weekend that I was on live text duties for, there were significant delays and problem – fingers crossed this cursed streak ends here! 

Good morning early risers, and welcome to first practice for the Las Vegas Grand Prix.