Las Vegas GP: George Russell tops practice three as Mercedes keep pace ahead of qualifying | F1 news

On By Littum

George Russell topped final practice at the Las Vegas Grand Prix as Mercedes continued to show impressive pace ahead of qualifying.

After Russell’s team-mate Lewis Hamilton topped both practice sessions a day earlier, Mercedes were strong again as the pair spent much of the session at the top of the timesheet before the former emerged fastest in a flurry of laps in the closing stages truncated by a red flag.

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was second, two places ahead of teammate Lando Norris, with the pair shared by the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz.

After being frustrated by his struggles for most of the session, Max Verstappen boosted his hopes of winning the world championship this weekend by showing improved late pace to finish fifth.

Verstappen could win his fourth consecutive drivers’ title with two races to spare by simply finishing ahead of Norris in the race, while the Dutchman would also be crowned if he avoided losing three points or more to the McLaren driver.

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Lance Stroll caused an early red flag in FP3 after his car started smoking at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Hamilton, who failed to deliver a clean lap time on his new soft tires at the end of the session, was sixth but had proved very evenly matched with Russell throughout.

The extraordinary nature of the event, with Las Vegas’ famous Strip being shut down in the evening to allow F1 to take over, results in the track being very extremely dirty by the sport’s usual standards.

With the problem exacerbated by a lack of support events, which would normally lead to rubber being laid down on the surface, the track is rapidly improving throughout each session.

That situation played out once again in the closing stages of the session when Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll experienced a technical fault that saw him stop on track with six minutes remaining.

A red flag was thrown to allow his car to be cleared safely, which only allowed time for the drivers to re-emerge from the pit lane to carry out practice starts in the closing moments.

Las Vegas GP Practice Three Timesheet

Driver Team Time
1) George Russell Mercedes 1:33,570
2) Oscar Piastri McLaren +0.215
3) Carlos Sainz Ferrari +0.348
4) Lando Norris McLaren +0.438
5) Max Verstappen Red Bull +0.567
6) Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +0.771
7) Alex Albon Williams +0.837
8) Franco Colapinto Williams +1.153
9) Kevin Magnussen Haas +1,313
10) Pierre Gasly Alpine +1,335
11) Nico Hulkenberg Haas +1,338
12) Charles Leclerc Ferrari +1,371
13) Sergio Perez Red Bull +1,491
14) Esteban Ocon Alpine +1,890
15) Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +2,368
16) Yuki Tsunoda RB +2,645
17) Valtteri Bottas Sauber +2,842
18) Liam Lawson RB +2,974
19) Lance Stroll Aston Martin +3,380
20) Zhou Guanyu Sauber +3,418

Sky Sports F1 live Las Vegas GP programme

Saturday 23 November
05.00: Las Vegas GP Qualifying Build-up*
06.00: LAS VEGAS GRAND PRIX QUALIFYING*
8:00am: Ted’s qualification notebook*

Sunday, November 24
4.30: Grand Prix Sunday: Las Vegas GP build-up*
06.00: LAS VEGAS GRAND PRIX*
8:00 AM: Checkered Flag: Las Vegas GP Reaction*
9:00: Ted’s Notebook*

* also live on Sky Sports Main Event

Formula 1 returns with the Las Vegas Grand Prix this weekend, live on Sky Sports F1, where Max Verstappen could seal the championship. Stream the last three F1 races and more with a NU Sports Month membership – No contract, cancel anytime