Carlos Sainz Jr (ESP) Ferrari SF-23
Carlos Sainz Jr (ESP) Ferrari SF-23

F1 Las Vegas GP 2023: How a disrupted Friday practice played out

Scroll down for details of a remarka🐷ble day in F1 history.

The first-ever Vegas Practice session was cut short after just a few minutes by a loose drain cover. A much-delayed Free Practice 2 session eꦅnded at 4am local time, without any fans.

12:04
Full results

Max Verstappen (NLD) Red Bull Racing RB19. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 22, Las Vegas Grand Prix, Las Vegas, Nevada,
Max Verstappen (NLD) Red Bull Racing RB19. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 22, Las Vegas…

12:02
Chequered flag

Charles Leclerc goes fastest in Practice.

Wꦆe finish at 4am local time, an utterly bizarre day in F1 history.

11:56
Five mins to go

Leclerc and Sainz, the Ferrari duo, st𝕴ill at the top of th💞e timesheet.

11:47
Twenty minutes to go

1) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, 1:35.265

2) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari, +0.517

3) Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin, +0.528

4) Sergio Perez, Red Bull, +0.820

5) Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo, +0.864

6) Max Verstappen, Red Bull, +0.918

7) Nico Hulkenberg, Haas, +1.224

8) Lance Stroll, Aston Martin, +1.231

9) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, +1.398

10) Alex Albon, Williams, +1.423

11:39
Ted Kravitz has noticed something

Sky pitlane reporter thinks Red Bull are focused on Ferrari and McLaren, and NOT Mercedes or Aston🌸 Martin.

11:34
Alonso back in the mix

Aston Martin driver nips into second.

11:34
New top four, 28 mins to go

Leclerc

Sainz

Perez

Bottas

11:29
33 mins to go

Verstappen beats Alonso's🍃 time, then Leclerc go♛es fastest!

11:24
Alonso fastest!

Fernando Alonso goes &nജbsp;1:36.657, the best time so far!

40 mins left.

11:18
"Storming" Hamilton!

Lewis Hamilton up to third, 0.003s behind leader Leclerc. Descr♎ibed as a "stormi🌜ng lap!"

11:10
Ferraris in front

Leclerc beats his teammate Sainz's time...

11:09
After 30 minutes

1) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari, 1:36.984

2) Sergio Perez, Red Bull, +0.823

3) Max Verstappen, Red Bull, +1.225

4) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, +1.341

5) Alex Albon, Williams, +1.524 

6) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, +1.892

7) Lando Norris, McLaren, +2.293

8) Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo, +2.398

9) Kevin Magnussen, Haas, +2.458

10) Logan Sargeant, Williams, +2.598

11:01
Side by side!

"Max is racing," Leclerc says on his radio.

10:49
71 minutes to go

Verstappen reclaims top spot from Leclerc.

10:49
No McLaren issues

Zak Brown confirms there are no major problems despite both 🐓McLarens coming in♈to the pits.

10:42
A few worries...

Perez and Magnussen guilty of running wide at Turn 12. Somet😼hing to keep an eye on.

10:42
Leclerc goes fastest

Ferrari d𝔍river goes 1:38.917. Carlos 🅰Sainz had previously beaten Verstappen's earlier time.

Ferrari one-two at the moment.

10:37
Verstappen's time

1:41.905 from the F1 cha🐼mp, that⛄'s an early benchmark.

10:36

Norris into the pits already.

10:34
First cars emerge

The McLarens and Verstappen are the fir🔴💛st to venture out.

10:30
FP2 finally underway!

After more than two hours of delays we have a gre🅠en light at the end of the pitl💦ane and are go for FP2.

10:04
Will tyres and temperatures dominate Vegas GP?

Remote video URL

09:46
Delayed start again

2am local (10am UK) start time for Free Practice 2 has been delayed "due to work♍ that remains ongoing by local circuit engineers".

New start time is 10.30am UK.

09:42
Fan areas closed

Vegas organisers confirm that fan areas have been closed, 30 minutes before practice is set to resume. This is due to "logistical cons𝕴iderations".

09:39
10am UK start

The p༒lan is to resume at 2am local time, 10am U💎K time.

That's in 21 minutes.

Let's hope we see some action...