Charles Leclerc set the pace in the second free practice session of the Las Vegas F1 Grand Prix, in a Ferrari one-two. The session was unusual, ending at 4:00 am local time, after all the delays caused by the manhole cover incident in FP1.
With 90 minutes instead of the usual 60 to make up for the almost non-existent opening session, FP2 quickly got action on the track. As the asphalt evolved throughout the practice, with more rubber accumulating, the times were constantly improving. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) was the first to complete a lap, but after fifteen minutes it was Max Verstappen (Red Bull) leading ahead of Leclerc.
Later on, Leclerc and Verstappen had a slight disagreement on the track when the Dutchman overtook his rival on the way to turn 14. Subsequently, Sergio Pérez (Red Bull) reached the top of the timesheets, only to be beaten by Carlos Sainz. The Spaniard had suffered damage to his Ferrari in the incident with the manhole cover in FP1, but showed good pace after the repairs.
In his second attempt with soft tires, Verstappen missed a braking point for turn 12. Leclerc had better luck, surpassing Pérez to become the leader. When the three-time world champion improved, it was not enough to surpass the #16. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) came close to doing so, finishing just 0.003s behind.
The session was not yet halfway through when Leclerc was overtaken by Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin). However, it was short-lived, as five minutes later Leclerc surpassed the previous times.
The times continued to improve, with Leclerc continuing to stand out. Alonso briefly lost second place but regained it within the first hour… when Leclerc improved the benchmark time to 1m35.265s, which was never beaten. There was still time for Sainz to place himself in second before focusing on long runs of laps.
Alonso finished third, followed by Pérez. The top five was completed by the surprising Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo), while Verstappen could only manage sixth, 0.918s off the pace.
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