George Russell completed the practice hat-trick for Mercedes in Las Vegas, guaranteeing P1 through a late red flag when Lance Stroll’s AMR24 stopped and the Canadian came to a halt at the side of the track.

While Mercedes had the better of its rivals on the soft Pirelli tyres, Max Verstappen complained on the mediums that his RB20 was “uncontrollable” and that it was “going to crash”. He recovered during his run on soft tires and finished P5.

George Russell completed the practice hat-trick for Mercedes

After a busy Thursday evening, it was a slow start to Friday’s final practice, with only one driver setting a lap time in the first 15 minutes.

That was Sergio Perez, who started the timekeeping with a 1:41.1, but reported that track conditions were “miles off” compared to yesterday. Liam Lawson had the same complaint when he returned to the VCARB garage after one lap.

Several teams, including Mercedes, Aston Martin and VCARB, sent their drivers out for a lap or two, possibly to scrub the tires before the race.

Max Verstappen was the second driver to set a time, but was slower than Perez after a lock-up on his outlap and a moment in Turn 14 as he struggled for grip. By getting heat into his tires and finding grip, Verstappen went fastest on the medium tires. Worryingly for Red Bull, he reported that his front was ‘dead’ after just six laps.

F1 2024: teammate head-to-head stats

👉 F1 2024: Head-to-head qualifying record between teammates

👉 F1 2024: Head-to-head racing stats between teammates

The action intensified when McLaren went in front midway through the session and Oscar Piastri was P1 with a 1:35.7, giving him a full second ahead of Lando Norris. Valtteri Bottas finished third with the top seven on the soft Pirellis.

Kevin Magnussen was fastest with a 1:35.6, Lewis Hamilton was hit by traffic on his way to fifth and Verstappen complained that his RB20 was “undriveable” as he still had a moment at Turn 5. He added: “I It’s possible” If I don’t drive it, I’m going to crash.” He came in 20th on the timesheet with Perez P19.

At the front, Thursday’s pacesetters Mercedes went 1-2 with Hamilton ahead of George Russell, Carlos Sainz was third ahead of Magnussen, Pierre Gasly and Nico Hulkenberg.

The traditional qualifying simulations got underway in the final 15 minutes when Russell put on a new set of soft Pirellis and took P1.

Red Bull switched to the redwall tires for the first time in FP3, but Verstappen aborted his first lap before going fastest on his next lap, a 1:34.1. He wasn’t in P1 for long, Sainz came through and Russell recaptured him.

The red flag, the first of the session, came out with seven minutes to go when Lance Stroll came to a halt at the side of the track when his AMR24 stopped him. His Aston Martin’s red flag, the ERS warning, kept flashing, meaning the mechanics could not touch the car.

With one minute to go the track was green, giving the drivers time to head out for a practice start. Perez didn’t get away in time.

Times

1 George RUSSEL 1:33,570
2 Oscar PIASTRI +0.215
3 Carlos SAINZ +0.348
4 Lando NORRIS +0.438
5 Max VERSTAPEN +0.567
6Lewis HAMILTON +0.771
7 Alexander ALBON +0.837
8 Franco COLAPINTO +1.153
9 Kevin MAGNUSSEN +1,313
10 Pierre GASLY +1,335
11 Nico HULKENBERG +1,338
12 Charles LECLERC +1.371
13 Sergio PEREZ +1,491
14 Esteban OCON +1,890
15 Fernando ALONSO +2.368
16 Yuki TSUNODA +2,645
17 Valtteri BOTTAS +2.842
18 Liam LAWSON +2,974
19 Lance WALK +3,380
20 ZHOU Guanyu +3,418

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