Before the start of the weekend in Las Vegas, the Ferrari duo thought they had a good chance of getting the best result. The beginning was somewhat cautious, as Carlos Sainz also emphasized.
In the first free practice session in Las Vegas, Charles Leclerc was the fastest of the two Ferrari drivers. The Monegasse turned fourth fastest, while Carlos Sainz was sixth on the timesheets.
The Spaniard was ahead in the second session. He set the fourth fastest lap time, his teammate was almost two tenths slower and was therefore fifth fastest.
Sainz explained it after two hours of training, during which he completed a total of 55 laps: “It was fine for everyone, especially in the first laps of the first training session there was no trap to be found. I think it was like in Turkey when we had these conditions crazy in 2020 where we couldn’t hold on.”
“Things got a little better as the days went by, but the temperature also dropped and everything became more difficult. But we are all in the same boat,” sighed the racing driver from Madrid, who also openly admitted: “There is still some work ahead of us because we were not and as strong as we imagined.”
“But I think we are talking about music and I would say that Mercedes was very impressive all day, as Lando Norris did in McLaren. We have to improve especially in qualifying because we are on a good way to cut the race once we warm up the tires. You have it,” analyzed Sainz.
2. Training, Las Vegas
01. Lewis Hamilton (GB), Mercedes, 1:33,825 minutes
02. Lando Norris (GB), McLaren, 1:33.836
03. George Russell (GB), Mercedes, 1:34,015
04. Carlos Sainz (L), Ferrari, 1:34.105
05. Charles Leclerc (MC), Ferrari, 1:34,313
06. Pierre Gasly (F), Alpine, 1:34,651
07. Kevin Magnussen (DK), Haas, 1:34.686
08. Oscar Piastri (AUS), McLaren, 1:34.798
09. Nico Hulkenberg (D), Haas, 1:34.818
10. Yuki Tsunoda (J), Racing Bulls, 1:34,997
11. Valtteri Bottas (FIN), Sauber, 1:35.020
12. Stephen Ocon (F), Alpine, 1:35.221
13. Lance Stroll (CDN), Aston Martin, 1:35,251
14. Fernando Alonso (E), Aston Martin, 1:35.440
15. Liam Lawson (NZ), Racing Bulls, 1:35,671
16. Guanyu Zhou (RCH), Sauber, 1:35,765
17. Max Verstappen (NL), Red Bull Racing, 1:35,834
18. Franco Colapinto (RA), Williams, 1:35.868
19. Sergio Pérez (MEX), Red Bull Racing, 1:36,055
20. Alex Albon (T), Williams, 1:39,629
1. Training, Las Vegas
01. Lewis Hamilton (GB), Mercedes, 1:35,001 minutes
02. George Russell (GB), Mercedes, 1:35,397
03. Lando Norris (GB), McLaren, 1:35.954
04. Charles Leclerc (MC), Ferrari, 1:36,007
05. Max Verstappen (NL), Red Bull Racing, 1:36,038
06. Carlos Sainz (L), Ferrari, 1:36.219
07. Fernando Alonso (E), Aston Martin, 1:36.262
08. Oscar Piastri (AUS), McLaren, 1:36.451
09. Pierre Gasly (F), Alpine, 1:36,478
10. Sergio Pérez (MEX), Red Bull Racing, 1:36,536
11. Kevin Magnussen (DK), Haas, 1:36.811
12. Lance Stroll (CDN), Aston Martin, 1:36,817
13. Alex Albon (T), Williams, 1:36,948
14. Stephen Ocon (F), Alpine, 1:37.152
15. Nico Hulkenberg (D), Haas, 1:37.200
16. Valtteri Bottas (FIN), Sauber, 1:37.765
17. Franco Colapinto (RA), Williams, 1:38.025
18. Guanyu Zhou (RCH), Sauber, 1:38,350
19. Yuki Tsunoda (J), Racing Bulls, 1:38,574
20. Liam Lawson (NZ), Racing Bulls, 1:38,730
: “Not as strong as we thought” / Formula 1){kind=link}