Las Vegas GP final practice explained as Logan Sargeant surprises Max Verstappen

18 November 2023 , 07:30

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A rogue wheel brought a premature end to final practice in Las Vegas (Image: Getty Images)

Red flags flew again in final practice for the Las Vegas Grand Prix - but this time it caused a much less chaotic outcome than on Friday morning.

FP1 lasted for mere minutes before it was stopped and then called over track safety issues. By the time all that was rectified, the second practice session only got under way at 2.30am and all fans had already left the circuit.

This red flag also led to FP3 being cut short. But we only lost less than six minutes at the end of the session, caused by a crash from Alex Albon which saw his rear tyre come off the Williams.

George Russell had the quickest lap on the board at the time. The Brit had a spin of his own during the session but avoided the barrier and instead put his Mercedes top of the timesheets after moving onto the soft tyres.

But don't be rushing to back Russell for pole position in qualifying or the race win. Not everyone managed to get their soft tyre runs done before Albon's crash, meaning there remains some intrigue over who exactly looks quickest over one lap on this new street circuit.

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Max Verstappen was one of those who did not set a representative time. His first flying lap on his soft tyres at the end of the session was aborted while the red flag denied him the chance to go for another.

Still, he was fourth quickest overall, slightly ahead of Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez one place behind. Ahead of both was Logan Sargeant who had put in an impressive time before his fellow Williams driver's crash, but the American will do well to repeat the trick in qualifying.

It was an indicator of his car's pace on this fast track, though, hinting that Q3 appearances could be on the cards for Williams. Lewis Hamilton may be in a little more trouble, having only gone eighth quickest and that was with both Ferraris out of the equation behind him.

Neither of them completed a fast qualifying run on the soft tyres and so were only 16th and 17th quickest on the mediums. But both were very quick in FP2 and so a Ferrari pole is not an unrealistic proposition.

Even if Carlos Sainz can go quickest in qualifying, though, the sixth row of the grid is the best he can hope for. He was given a 10-place grid penalty after being forced to take a new energy store on his car after picking up damage from the track in FP1 - universally regarded as a very harsh outcome for the Spaniard.

Daniel Moxon