How Charles Leclerc came out on top in second practice after FP1 in Vegas ruined by track problems

The first day of the highly-anticipated Las Vegas Grand Prix descended into chaos with the action not finishing until 4am local time

Patrick Iversen, Alex Davies and more

(Getty Images)

F1 Las Vegas practice thrown into chaos

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was quickest in practice ahead of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, but only after Formula One was forced to abandon the first running due to problems with the track.

The first day of practice descended into chaos when, after months of build up, the first practice session was abandoned because of Carlos Sainz hitting a loose manhole cover, which badly damaged his car.

The second practice was then delayed by two and a half hours. When it commenced it played out in front of empty grandstands after angry fans were ejected to comply with local laws.

Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur said the situation was “unacceptable”.

But he will have at least been happy to see Leclerc come out on top when the second practice session finally got underway. He led Sainz by 0.517 seconds in a Ferrari one-two ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez.

Max Verstappen was sixth and Lewis Hamilton ninth. But, with the session not finishing until after 4am in Las Vegas, few were left talking about the on-track action on a deeply embarrassing day for F1.

George ‘four-nap’ Russell

The timing of these practice sessions is tricky for all the drivers, with Mercedes’ George Russell taking great care to ensure he was well-rested before FP2...

“I actually had a nap before coming to the circuit!” Russell said.

“I think today I've had four naps. I don't know what time it is but I'm definitely looking forward to getting some sleep!

“It was good to finally get going after quite a long day. Obviously, it's a very fast circuit — highest top speed of the year probably — and racing at night is pretty spectacular.

“But I think it's going to be an interesting race weekend dominated by getting the tyres working and by graining. I think that's going to hinder everybody come Sunday.”

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Verstappen: ‘Not easy to pick a race tyre’

Max Verstappen echoing the thoughts of many in the paddock when describing the challenges of choosing a tyre for the chilly Las Vegas track.

“The soft (tyre) over one lap is good,” the Red Bull man said. “Long run was a bit more difficult, it seemed like it was struggling quite a lot out there so we very quickly went on to the medium. But it seems that even the medium isn't a straightforward tyre as well in the long run.

“A few things we have to look into to see how we can improve in the long run. I think we look very good compared to others but I feel like we can still do a better job. Not straightforward to pick your tyres for the race.”

It's fair to say Verstappen hasn't had fun...

“No.”

That was Max Verstappen's response to Sky when asked if he'd enjoyed himself in FP2.

“I've had better tracks in my life,” the Dutchman added after his sixth-placed finish. “I already said that yesterday — there's nothing new that I discovered. We just get on with it.

“It's slippery. We didn't really run a lot in FP1 so it took a bit of time to rubber in a little bit more and I think at the end it was a little bit better. We managed to do our whole programme which I guess was the most important thing for today.”

More from Lewis Hamilton

On tyre issues for the whole pack, Hamilton adds: “I think a combination of both (cold temperatures and track surface are causing problems) and we are really low downforce, so we are sliding a lot between the slow-speed corners and high-speed corners.

“You don't have a huge amount of load because you need the straight line speed. Then the temperatures I'm sure are having a big effect.”

Reminder: It’s currently 11C / 52F in Las Vegas...

Hamilton: ‘So much fun today’

Lewis Hamilton enjoyed himself out there, finishing ninth in FP2.

“It's incredibly fast and a lot of fun,” the Mercedes driver said. “I had so much fun today, I'm so glad we got to run again. Not a good FP1 but they did a good job to fix it.

“The car is OK. When we are all out on similar tyres we are not too far off. Everyone is having graining and people are running out of tyres but everyone is on a similar boat.”

FP2 goes off without a hitch (phew)

(Photo: Getty Images)

After an eventful FP1 that was canceled due to track issues and led to a prolonged delay, FP2 went off without a hitch where the session ran without a major incident of any kind.

Ferrari teammates Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz paced the 90-minute session. This was an especially noteworthy recovery for Sainz after his car was heavily damaged upon striking a piece of the track that came up.

Fernando Alonso was third, followed by Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas.

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FP2 final times

(Photo: Getty Images)

Here are the final times from that delayed FP2 session.

Checkered flag

The checkered flag is being waved. It has just turned 4am in Las Vegas.

‘Sorry, it’s been a bit messy’

(Photo: Getty Images)

Moments after almost running into the wall, Logan Sargeant becomes the latest driver to go off the track at Turn 5.

“Sorry, it’s been a bit messy,” he says over the team radio. He is bottom of the leaderboard.

Leclerc: ‘Come on Zhou, wake up!’

(Photo: Getty Images)

Charles Leclerc isn’t happy with Zhou Guanyu after the Alfa Romeo slows down in front of him, impacting his lap.

“Come on Zhou, wake up. Oh my god, it’s too late for him!”

Or too early?

Some slipping and sliding

Charles Leclerc and George Russell both go straight off at Turn 14.

Meanwhile, Logan Sargeant gets a little too close to the wall in his Williams.

This late into the session, all the drivers are really pushing as hard as they can, learning exactly what they can get away with ahead of the weekend.

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Fernando Alonso rejoins the track on mediums

(Photo: Getty Images)

Everybody bar Zhou Guanyu is out on the track as we enter the final 10 minutes of FP2.

Fifteen minutes remaining

It has been a long, long night. Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso are back in the pits. Charles Leclerc is out on track on softs, Sergio Perez is trying to better his quickest time. As is Max Verstappen, who is in the process of completing an out lap.

Red Bull keeping a close eye on Ferrari and McLaren

(Photo: Getty Images)

The Sky Sports cameras just panned around to the Red Bull pitwall, giving everybody watching a good opportunity to catch a glimpse of their several screens.

And, interestingly, it appears as though the cars they have chosen to keep a close eye on are those of Ferrari and McLaren. Not Aston Martin or Mercedes.

Are those former teams the ones Red Bull’s tacticians expect to be battling with at the front of the grid this weekend?

Alonso splits the Ferraris

Fernando Alonso has just gone second quickest, with purple first and third sectors.

The Aston Martin has looked good around this track. Alonso’s teammate, Lance Stroll, is sat in eighth.

Russell runs wide

(Photo: Getty Images)

George Russell has just locked up and ran wide at Turn 5.

The Mercedes duo of Russell and Lewis Hamilton have been bogged down in the midfield for much of this session. Hamilton is currently eighth with Russell back in twelfth.

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Thirty minutes remaining in FP2

There are 30 minutes left of this delayed session. Here are the current top five.

Charles Leclerc goes quickest

(Photo: Getty Images)

Yup. Wow, what a lap. Charles Leclerc absolutely thundered through that one and goes top by a massive 0.611.

Enter Verstappen and Sainz

The world champion is on new softs and has just gone quickest with a 1:36.307. Sainz is now second, 0.047 behind him.

But Charles Leclerc has gone purple through the first two sectors…

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