2023 F1 Las Vegas GP results: Leclerc fastest in practice

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was quickest in a disrupted Las Vegas Grand Prix practice ahead of the penultimate round of the 2023 Formula 1 world championship.

Leclerc set the early pace in Free Practice 1, which was curtailed after only eight minutes due to a water valve cover working loose and smashing the bottom of team-mate Carlos Sainz’s car.

He also paced FP2 with a fastest time of 1m35.265s, after a lengthy delay while repairs were conducted to the track.

Las Vegas GP FP1 results: Leclerc fastest from Hulkenberg

Cla	Nº	Driver	Car / Engine	Time	Delay	Laps	km/h
1	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1'40.909		4	221.225
2	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas/Ferrari	1'43.446	2.537	4	215.799
3	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas/Ferrari	1'44.261	3.352	4	214.112
4	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull/Honda RBPT	1'44.397	3.488	4	213.833
5	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine/Renault	1'45.365	4.456	5	211.869
6	63	George Russell	Mercedes	1'45.497	4.588	4	211.604
7	55	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Ferrari	1'45.824	4.915	4	210.950
8	22	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT	1'45.908	4.999	5	210.782
9	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull/Honda RBPT	1'46.793	5.884	4	209.036
10	77	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo/Ferrari	1'47.147	6.238	5	208.345
11	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine/Renault	1'48.253	7.344	5	206.216
12	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1'48.513	7.604	4	205.722
13	3	Daniel Ricciardo	AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT	1'48.650	7.741	4	205.463
14	24	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo/Ferrari	1'48.822	7.913	5	205.138
15	4	Lando Norris	McLaren/Mercedes	1'48.947	8.038	3	204.903
16	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin/Mercedes	-		2
17	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren/Mercedes	-		2
18	23	Alexander Albon	Williams/Mercedes	-		2
19	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin/Mercedes	-		2

What happened in Las Vegas GP Free Practice 1?

The hugely anticipated first running on the new 3.9-mile street track didn’t last long. The water valve cover issue that sidelined Sainz’s car brought the session to an early end after just eight minutes.

Sainz's Ferrari crawled to a halt between the Bellagio and Paris hotels on the Strip, his onboard camera showing that his car had been rendered immobile by an impact from something on the track.

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Marshals load the damaged car of Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-23, onto a truck

The Ferrari’s chassis, floor and battery were damaged in the impact, as the concrete frame of the water valve cover was ripped up by the force of F1 cars running over it at high speed. The Alpine of Esteban Ocon was also damaged, as it was his car that flicked up the cover.

Valtteri Bottas had set the first timed lap of the track, with a 1m50.227s, but the benchmark swiftly fell with Leclerc working down to 1m40.909s before the red flag.

The Haas duo of Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen were next up, ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Ocon.

Las Vegas GP FP2 results: Leclerc fastest from Sainz

Cla	Nº	Driver	Car / Engine	Time	Delay	Laps
1	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1'35.265		39
2	55	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Ferrari	1'35.782	0.517	39
3	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin/Mercedes	1'35.793	0.528	38
4	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull/Honda RBPT	1'36.085	0.820	36
5	77	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo/Ferrari	1'36.129	0.864	36
6	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull/Honda RBPT	1'36.183	0.918	37
7	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas/Ferrari	1'36.489	1.224	33
8	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin/Mercedes	1'36.496	1.231	41
9	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1'36.663	1.398	42
10	23	Alexander Albon	Williams/Mercedes	1'36.688	1.423	42
11	4	Lando Norris	McLaren/Mercedes	1'36.864	1.599	33
12	63	George Russell	Mercedes	1'36.890	1.625	37
13	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas/Ferrari	1'36.917	1.652	37
14	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren/Mercedes	1'36.987	1.722	35
15	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine/Renault	1'37.134	1.869	33
16	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine/Renault	1'37.241	1.976	37
17	22	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT	1'37.412	2.147	41
18	24	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo/Ferrari	1'37.656	2.391	36
19	3	Daniel Ricciardo	AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT	1'37.680	2.415	40
20	2	Logan Sargeant	Williams/Mercedes	1'38.140	2.875	42

What happened in Las Vegas GP Free Practice 2?

After a lengthy delay to inspect and remedy about 30 covers around the track, by filling them with track surface materials, FP2 was started at 2:30am local time and was extended to 90 minutes.

Magnussen and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez were early visitors to the Turn 12 run-off after locking up.

Sainz showed no ill effects by immediately going to the top of the times with 1m39.891s, a tenth faster than Leclerc – both running soft tyres from the start.

Verstappen then set the pace at 1m38.625s on mediums, before Sainz grabbed P1 back with 1m38.537s and Leclerc retook it with 1m38.325s. Verstappen lowered the bar to 1m38.209s, to set the fastest time on mediums.

Perez briefly took the top spot at 1m37.807s, before Sainz snatched it with 1m36.984s and Leclerc took P2, 0.245s slower. Verstappen locked up on his soft run, going down the Turn 12 escape road. On his next lap, he got to within 0.148s of Sainz for P2.

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB19

Sainz then improved to 1m36.742s, before Leclerc topped that by 0.082s with 1m36.660s. Verstappen could only manage 1m36.960s for third, before Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) jumped up to second, just 0.003s off Leclerc’s pace. Alex Albon rose to third for Williams, 0.028s slower, before overshooting Turn 12.

Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) rocketed to the top of the times with a time of 1m36.657s, set with 40 minutes remaining. Sainz beat that on a new set of softs, with 1m36.354s, but Verstappen bested him with 1m36.307s.

Leclerc reset the bar to 1m35.696s and then 1m35.265s. Sainz took P2, albeit half a second down, while Alonso bounced back to third before visiting an escape road. Perez was fourth from Bottas, Verstappen and Hulkenberg.