George Russell upheld Mercedes’ dominant Las Vegas form in FP3 on Friday, the Briton topping a session that was cut short by a late red flag triggered by Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll.
Russell outpaced McLaren’s Oscar Piastri by 0.215s while Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was third, but once again, the cool low-grip track conditions were a handful for drivers.
Behind the leading trio, championship rivals Lando Norris and Max Verstappen rounded off the top five, with the Red Bull charger lingering at the bottom of the timesheets for most of the session until an improved set-up and a late flyer on the soft tyre propelled him into the upper tier.
It was a leisurely start to the session, with only a handful of drivers taking to the track for the odd exploratory lap. Conditions were similar to the previous evening, with the circuit basking in 15°C ambient temperatures and dropping.
Ten minutes in, only Red Bull – arguably the team with perhaps the most to gain after Thursday’s difficult start – had put a time on the board, but both Verstappen and Perez, shod with the medium tyre, appeared to struggle on the still slippery track surface.
Gradually, more drivers joined the action, including Norris and Piastri who took advantage of their soft rubber to go top. But changes were fast and furious as traffic grew.
Local fans will have cheered the sight of a Haas 1-2 as the session reached its half-way point, with Nico Hulkenberg leading Kevin Magnussen, but the pair was overhauled in short order by Leclerc and Russell.
Almost the entire field opted to make the most of its soft tyre allocation, but Red Bull were the outliers as the team channeled its focus on improving its struggling RB20, and especially its straight-line speed by trimming as much as possible its ill-suited high downforce rear wing.
Meanwhile, it was a Mercedes 1-2 once again, with Hamilton and Russell trading places at the top. Despite both drivers scratching their heads after Thursday’s session to understand their strong form, the latter now appeared genuine.
However, while Verstappen appeared down during the first part of the session, the Dutchman wasn’t out. A low fuel run on the soft rubber saw the championship leader significantly improve his performance as he popped up into the top five.
With seven minutes left on the clock, the red flag was deployed, triggered by Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll whose car was seen parked at the side of the track. But the red light flashing atop the AMR24 indicated that it was not safe to move which delayed its evacuation by the marshals.
The Aston was eventually rolled out of harm’s way but the session resumed for exactly 60 seconds, which fixed the field’s positions, leaving Russell at the front followed by Piastri, Sainz, Norris and Verstappen.
Thereafter followed Hamilton and the Williams pair of Alex Albon and Franco Colapinto, with Magnussen and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly completing the top ten.
But Mercedes will assuredly have a battle on its hands to uphold its momentum into what will be a difficult qualifying session later this evening.
On a track that takes no prisoners and in conditions that will be unforgiving once again, F1 fans will be looking forward to a thrilling and entertaining grid-defining session and shootout.
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