In what was a slippery Free Practice 1 session, Charles Leclerc led the charge to top the timesheet with a lap of 1:34.802. The #16 came up ahead of Alex Albon and Yuki Tsunoda, while other struggle to manage corners on the street circuit. Read on for all the Formula 1 action below.
Teams Test in Slippery and Dusty Conditions
With the Nevada sun setting on the horizon, it was time for the first session of the 2025 Formula 1 Las Vegas GP. Due to the cool and dry conditions, tyre management was key to mastering the challenging street circuit. Oracle Red Bull Racing learned from the mistakes in Brazil and focused on an ideal car set-up for Max Verstappen. He and George Russell are the favourites going into the weekend to win, but they were the last to come out of the pit lane. Instead, it was the #1’s teammate, Tsunoda, who was out on track first alongside the Visa Cash App Racing Bulls car of Isack Hadjar. As more followed, the medium C4 compound was the tyre of choice as drivers kicked up dust.
Nico Hulkenberg was the only driver out on the hard C3 rubber as he fought to get the tyres up to temperature. Fernando Alonso went the other end of the scale with the soft C5 tyre. There were comments of low grip and sliding. Lewis Hamilton might want to consider taking up drifting as he navigated turns to avoid the looming walls on either side. Halfway through the session, the #44 changed to softs, as did his current teammate, Leclerc, and his former Mercedes AMG teammate, Russell.
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were testing trimmed rear wings, similar to the ones used in Monza. Norris had a higher downforce configuration, while the #81 car was sporting a much slimmer rear wing. Piastri’s vehicle also had flow-vis paint to help assess and collect downforce data for the weekend. There were also some interesting data-measuring tools attached to the #4 that had us scratching our heads about what precisely the McLaren engineers were measuring. Hadjar communicated that there was stone in the cockpit. It was quickly removed before returning to the track.
Snappy Reactions as Drivers Push the Limits
Fast times came in as the track improved, but grip issues persisted throughout the grid. Several drivers went sliding, with Pierre Gasly having no choice but to brake heavily into the run-off area at Turn 14 before spinning his Alpine back onto the track. He later had to have the brake tins taped up, losing ten minutes in the garage. Oliver Bearman came unstuck twice in Turn 7, as did Gabriel Bortoleto. Norris clipped the wall slightly, but sustained no damage.
Hadjar and Alex Albon had a small incident fighting for lines into corners. The Racing Bulls driver immediately voiced his frustrations over the radio. McLaren engineers were under the car of Norris, inspecting the floor for damage. The medium tyre set of Hamilton had piqued the Pirelli engineers interest, looking for possible metal in the rim. Norris seemed to have some lock-up issues, as both McLaren cars struggled with performance issues. There were only a couple of quick yellow flag incidents were seen, with no crashes. However, Bortoleto was put under investigation for a yellow flag infringement.
Flashy Livery and Helmets Under the Vegas Lights
Cars and helmets suited up for the occasion, most sporting shiny, as well as meaningful designs. Norris swapped out his statement neon yellow for a helmet art to mark his 150th F1 race weekend. The design collaboration with Werner Bronkhorst acknowledges some of his most significant moments in the sport. The helmet has been turned into a canvas paintwork depicting a track orbiting the green background.
Hamilton went the opposite direction with his helmet design. He also forewent the yellow we’ve come to know during his first year at Ferrari. The #44 instead sported a helmet covering in dazzling rhinestones that rivaled the Vegas lights.
These two helmets were only a couple of the most eye-catching. But there’s plenty more to draw the eye across the weekend.
Incoming Weather Could Impact Next Day Sessions
While drivers would have laid down some serious rubber over the hour-long Free Practice 1 session, that could all be washed away if the predicted rain comes in overnight. With only the F1 Academy as the supporting intermediate class for the weekend, the hope is that the subsequent sessions will get enough grip to prevent the slippery track conditions already witnessed.