Mercedes driver George Russell secured the fastest time in final training on the night circuit in Las Vegas. The Englishman relegated Oscar Piastri to second place in the McLaren on Friday, almost 25 hours after the farce involving a defective water shaft. Under the floodlights in the gambling metropolis, Williams driver Logan Sargeant came third. Qualifying for Sunday’s race (7:00 a.m. CET) will take place on Saturday at 9:00 a.m. CET.
His teammate Alex Albon crashed into the guardrail shortly before the end of the one-hour session and lost his left rear wheel. With just under five minutes to go after the red flags were waved, the race stewards decided not to resume training. As a result, the competition was unable to counterattack. World champion Max Verstappen in the Red Bull came fourth, Haas driver Nico Hülkenberg twelfth.
During the opening training, Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz raced over the defective cover of a water shaft on the so-called strip and thereby involuntarily caused the session to be broken off prematurely. It was only two and a half hours late that the pilots were able to take part in the second session after inspections and repairs on the asphalt. The organizer had long since cleared the fan zones on the eagerly awaited Grand Prix weekend.
