Las Vegas Grand Prix FP2: Hamilton from Norris, Verstappen struggles

Mercedes was the car to beat for the second practice session in a row as it seemed the W15 was relishing the chilly conditions both on and off the track as grip was still an issue for drivers.

Lando Norris was a very close second behind the seven-time Formula 1 champion, ahead of George Russell who was third fastest in the sister Mercedes.

Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc followed, fourth and fifth respectively in the Ferraris while Pierre Gasly was a decent sixth for Alpine.

Kevin Magnussen was seventh in the Haas ahead of Oscar Piastri who was eighth but did not manage to put a qualifying lap in after the Red flagged caused by Alex Albon's break down on track.

Nico Hulkenberg and Yuki Tsunoda were ninth and tenth respectively.

Verstappen, on the other hand, struggled for pace all session and ended it in 17th. His position is not fully representative of his pace as he did not manage a clean run on the Soft tyres with low fuel due to the Red flag, but the RB20 appears to be the fourth fastest car so far behind Mercedes, McLaren and Ferrari.

Red Bull also do not run their power units in full power setting on Friday, so along with some adjustments before the final practice, expect some improvement from the Milton Keynes squad, but how good will the improvement be?

Christian Horner confirmed after the session that the issues were about getting the tyres in the right window on the short runs, while long runs seemed better.

After a slippery FP1 which saw Mercedes and Hamilton topped the timing screens, actions resumed for the second practice session around Las Vegas.

While Ferrari and McLaren were initially expected to fight for the top honors, Mercedes surprised with their early form, but will they maintain it.

Red Bull appeared to be the fourth fastest team with Verstappen fifth fastest, so will they improve as the weekend goes on?

What of Alpine? They are still buzzing from their double podium in Sao Paulo and Gasly did feature in the top ten in FP1...

The temperatures should be even cooler in the second 60 minutes of running, but the dust will be less and the track will be more rubbered down, so who will enjoy the cold of the Las Vegas night?

The session started in dry conditions as temperatures dropped even further, the track temperature registering 13 degrees Celsius while the air temperature was 11 degrees.

The drivers did not waste time as the pink Alpines led the pack out of the pits followed by the Saubers, then Colapinto in the Williams as well as Magnussen in the Haas.

The Medium tyre was the compound of choice for all drivers.

Russell soon complained about his helmet having excessive venting as he was annoyed with the cold air blowing his his face.

"This helmet has max venting, so I have a lot of cold air blowing in my face," he said over the radio.

Sergio Perez soon reported the same issue and asked his team to prepare his other helmet with less venting.

"I have a lot of air coming through this helmet, so please close up the other one so that we have it for the next run," the Mexican said.

Hamilton, on a timed lap, got too close to the wall at the exit of Turn 5 but went on to post the fastest time, Leclerc and Verstappen also had their moments, the latter complaining about lack of grip.

Magnussen had a moment at Turn 14, ending up in the run-off area while Hamilton suffered from the same at Turn 1.

Fernando Alonso on the other hand was not happy with his car setup complaining about bouncing.

"I think you need to change the set-up. More bouncing," he said.

Verstappen then had a moment braking into Turn 14 and ended up in the run-off area while Perez was out of shape into Turn 7.

The drivers were still struggling with grip.

With the session not reaching the halfway mark, Albon had his car was in the Williams garage on the stands and being taken apart due to a suspected fuel system issue.

"Alex is experiencing an issue with the fuel system and the team are investigating further. We’ll look to send him out for FP2 shortly," Williams said in a statement.

Colapinto was the first to run the Soft tyre but then Russell followed suit in the Mercedes. Leclerc and Sainz followed as well as other drivers, except for Verstappen and Perez.

Gasly had a moment with Piastri on track and wasn't happy with Australian's antics.

Into the second half of the session and it was qualifying runs for everyone.

With a little over 20 minutes, the session was Red flagged with Albon broke down on track. It appears the fix Williams applied was not a proper one.

The stricken Williams was cleared and soon the session was underway with less than 20 minutes on the clock. It was long runs on high fuel after the restart.

Verstappen, Perez, and Piastri missed out on their qualifying runs due to the stoppage.

Practice started concluded the session.

Hamilton's 1:33.825 was only 0.011s less than Norris' lap time, the McLaren driver in second and in turn 0.179s ahead of Russell in third.

Sainz was fourth and almost three tenths off the pace and 0.208s ahead of his teammate, Leclerc, who was only fifth in the sister Red car.

Gasly was a strong sixth for Alpine, albeit over eight tenths off the pace while Magnussen was 0.035s behind the Frenchman in seventh.

Piastri was 0.973s down in eighth and 0.020s ahead of Hulkenberg in ninth while Tsunoda was tenth, 1.172s away from the best time.