Charles Leclerc topped an extended second practice session for the Las Vegas Grand Prix following the cancellation of FP1 after just eight minutes of running.
The inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend met an inauspicious start when Carlos Sainz ran over a loose drain cover, causing extensive damage to his SF-23 and an early halt of the opening practice session.
FP2 was delayed by two-and-a-half hours, finally commencing at 2:30am local time, as repair work was carried out by the circuit’s engineering team in an effort to prevent a repeat.
Leclerc was fastest in the 90 minute session which took place in the absence of fans due to security staffing shortages. The Monegasque set the benchmark at 1:35.265s, half-a-second ahead of team-mate Sainz who faces a 10-place grid penalty after taking an extra energy store in the wake of his earlier incident.
Fernando Alonso found himself third for Aston Martin, ahead of Sergio Perez and the Alfa Romeo of Valtteri Bottas.
Reigning champion Max Verstappen only managed sixth, followed by Nico Hulkenberg, Lance Stroll, Lewis Hamilton and Alex Albon who completed the top ten.
After also picking up damage in FP1, Alpine rebuilt Esteban Ocon’s car around a spare chassis in time for FP2. The Frenchman was 16th fastest, a tenth slower than team-mate Pierre Gasly.
Position
Driver
Team
Time Gap
Laps
1
Charles Leclerc
Ferrari
1:35.265
39
2
Carlos Sainz Jr
Ferrari
1:35.782 0.517
39
3
Fernando Alonso
Aston Martin
1:35.793 0.528
38
4
Sergio Perez
Red Bull
1:36.085 0.820
36
5
Valtteri Bottas
Alfa Romeo
1:36.129 0.864
36
6
Max Verstappen
Red Bull
1:36.183 0.918
37
7
Nico Hulkenberg
Haas
1:36.489 1.224
33
8
Lance Stroll
Aston Martin
1:36.496 1.231
41
9
Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes
1:36.663 1.398
42
10
Alex Albon
Williams
1:36.688 1.423
42
11
Lando Norris
McLaren
1:36.864 1.599
33
12
George Russell
Mercedes
1:36.890 1.625
37
13
Kevin Magnussen
Haas
1:36.917 1.652
37
14
Oscar Piastri
McLaren
1:36.987 1.722
35
15
Pierre Gasly
Alpine
1:37.134 1.869
33
16
Esteban Ocon
Alpine
1:37.241 1.976
37
17
Yuki Tsunoda
AlphaTauri
1:37.412 2.147
41
18
Guanyu Zhou
Alfa Romeo
1:37.656 2.391
36
19
Daniel Ricciardo
AlphaTauri
1:37.680 2.415
40
20
Logan Sargeant
Williams
1:38.140 2.975
42
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