Las Vegas FP1 cut short following track issues, Max fourth quickest
Published on 17 November 2023 by Stefan Meens
The first free practice session of the Las Vegas Grand Prix has been abandoned after a mere eight minutes. A red flag was thrown after the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz and the Alpine of Esteban Ocon sustained damage to their cars after striking part of the track surface. Following inspection, the FIA stated that a concrete frame around a manhole cover failed. It means all other covers will have to be checked before any track action can be resumed.
Max Verstappen completed only one timed lap and finished the session in fourth place. The Oracle Red Bull Racing driver clocked his lap on the medium Pirelli compound. Pace setter Charles Leclerc set his time on the soft tyre. Although the Ferrari driver was a couple of seconds quicker than the rest of the field, the lap times are deemed irrelevant at this stage, with most drivers having only set one lap before the session was red flagged.
During the Las Vegas Grand Prix weekend, Max will sports a special helmet design. His RB19 features a Las Vegas inspired livery. You can pre-order the scale models for both helmets and cars on Verstappen.com
Contest Las Vegas GP: win a 1:43 Max Verstappen Formula 3 2014 scale model!
Results first free practice Las Vegas:
| pos | driver | team | time | gap | laps | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Charles Leclerc | LEC | Ferrari | 1:40.909 | 4 | |
| 2 | Nico Hulkenberg | HUL | Haas Ferrari | 1:43.446 | +2.537s | 4 |
| 3 | Kevin Magnussen | MAG | Haas Ferrari | 1:44.261 | +3.352s | 4 |
| 4 | Max Verstappen | VER | Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT | 1:44.397 | +3.488s | 4 |
| 5 | Esteban Ocon | OCO | Alpine Renault | 1:45.365 | +4.456s | 5 |
| 6 | George Russell | RUS | Mercedes | 1:45.497 | +4.588s | 4 |
| 7 | Carlos Sainz | SAI | Ferrari | 1:45.824 | +4.915s | 4 |
| 8 | Yuki Tsunoda | TSU | AlphaTauri Honda RBPT | 1:45.908 | +4.999s | 5 |
| 9 | Sergio Perez | PER | Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT | 1:46.793 | +5.884s | 4 |
| 10 | Valtteri Bottas | BOT | Alfa Romeo Ferrari | 1:47.147 | +6.238s | 5 |
| 11 | Pierre Gasly | GAS | Alpine Renault | 1:48.253 | +7.344s | 5 |
| 12 | Lewis Hamilton | HAM | Mercedes | 1:48.513 | +7.604s | 4 |
| 13 | Daniel Ricciardo | RIC | AlphaTauri Honda RBPT | 1:48.650 | +7.741s | 4 |
| 14 | Zhou Guanyu | ZHO | Alfa Romeo Ferrari | 1:48.822 | +7.913s | 5 |
| 15 | Lando Norris | NOR | McLaren Mercedes | 1:48.947 | +8.038s | 3 |
| 16 | Lance Stroll | STR | Aston Martin Mercedes | --- | 2 | |
| 17 | Oscar Piastri | PIA | McLaren Mercedes | --- | 2 | |
| 18 | Alexander Albon | ALB | Williams Mercedes | --- | 2 | |
| 19 | Fernando Alonso | ALO | Aston Martin Mercedes | --- | 2 |
