George Russell topped a wet-dry final practice session ahead of Max Verstappen at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris were slowest, in 19th and 20th, after technical problems prevented them from running when the track was at its driest late in the session.
The track started wet from rain some hours earlier in the late afternoon, but the still conditions and chilly 55 degree F conditions meant the already-slippery public roads remained recalcitrantly damp. Drivers were reluctant to join the track, and when they did, they stuck with the intermediate tire. It was the best compound in the conditions, but long sections of the track, including much of the back straight down the Strip, were dry enough that the tire was wearing down quickly.
It took until 30 minutes into the session for anyone to sample slicks, with Lando Norris bolting on a set of softs around halfway through – earlier than the title leader would have liked, but team radar suggested rain could return within 10 minutes, meaning it was then or never to get at least some slick running ahead of qualifying.
The Briton was miles off the pace at first, though there were signs of improvement with his second flying lap, after having pumped some heat into the rubber, before he sailed off the road in the wet. Ironically, just as his run came to an end, the track appeared to reach the transition point. A gaggle of drivers, also motivated by the impending rain, joined the track on slicks and suddenly started finding time.
Lewis Hamilton would have been the first driver to improve, but the he was baulked at the end of the back straight by a group of cars traveling slowly, forcing him off the track in a terrifying near miss. Teammate Charles Leclerc topped the time sheet instead, but it wouldn’t last long with more drivers joining the track on softs and everyone finding time.
With the forecast rain bypassing the track, drivers switched to fresh softs for a final stint, all with enough fuel to get maximum heat into the tires on the cool surface.
At the checkered flag it was Russell, the last driver over the line, who took top spot with a fastest time of 1m34.054s. Verstappen was set to cross the line just after Russell and seemed certain to pip him to top spot, but the Dutchman was blocked by slow-moving drivers refusing to move off the narrow dry line, ruining the lap. He ended 0.227s off the pace.
Despite Norris having been bravest in switching to slicks first, McLaren didn’t figure among the leaders at any stage on the soft tire. Both Norris and Piastri appeared to need more than two laps to get the slick rubber up to temperature and were hovering in the middle of the field with 10 minutes to go, when most drivers pitted for a final fresh set of softs. Norris, however, was held in pit lane with what appeared to be a battery discharge problem. Piastri pitted soon after but was told a telemetry issue would prevent him from rejoining the session.
Alex Albon instead completed the top three for Williams, lapping 0.821s slower than Russell.
The field spread was significant given the rapidly changing conditions. Isack Hadjar followed in fourth but was 1.1s adrift. He was still ahead of Hamilton, who ended fifth ahead of Kimi Antonelli in the second Mercedes in sixth. Liam Lawson was seventh ahead of Aston Martin teammates Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso, while Pierre Gasly completed the top 10 for Alpine.
Oliver Bearman was 11th and led home Carlos Sainz, Gabriel Bortoleto, Esteban Ocon, Charles Leclerc, Franco Colapinto, Nico Hulkenberg and Yuki Tsunoda down to 18th in an order that was heavily dictated by how late a driver completed their lap and how much traffic they encountered on the busy circuit in the final minutes.
