F1 Las Vegas GP 2025: FP1 & FP2 Round-Up, Results & Analysis

Thursday at the F1 Las Vegas GP 2025 FP1 FP2 sessions opened in freezing desert air. The track was green. The tyres refused to switch on. And both hours told the same story. Grip would be the currency this weekend, and the field spent most of Thursday trying to find it. FP1 set the tone. FP2 ended with red flags and a frustrating finish. Here’s the full rundown from the Strip.

FP1 — Leclerc Sets the Early Pace as Vegas Wakes Up

Round 22 began under cold skies and a surface that looked like it had slept through the week. Dust everywhere. Temperatures low. Tyres skating rather than gripping.

Isack Hadjar put the first lap on the board with a cautious 1:46.042. Liam Lawson followed and immediately radioed the truth. The circuit was “so slippery”, and the early corners offered nothing in return.

Williams struck first. Carlos Sainz went quickest on Mediums with a 1:41.164. Pierre Gasly beat it. Charles Leclerc lowered it to 1:39.733. Hadjar went quicker. Sainz answered. Hadjar took it back with 1:38.753. The top spot changed hands almost every lap as the track rubbered in.

Track evolution dominated the first half.
Every driver found time.
Every push run looked cleaner than the last.

Nico Hülkenberg jumped into view with a Hard-tyre 1:37.370, a reminder of Sauber’s stability on low fuel. Yuki Tsunoda replied with 1:37.094. Max Verstappen moved ahead with 1:36.493 and lowered it to 1:35.776 as he chased a nervous rear end through the bumps.

Lando Norris clipped the barrier with his right rear while building speed. No visible damage, but enough to interrupt his run.

When the Softs arrived, the session finally opened up.
Lewis Hamilton went quickest with 1:35.561.
Leclerc answered with 1:35.281.
Then 1:35.121.
Verstappen countered with 1:35.109.
Tsunoda slipped ahead by a few hundredths.
Nobody held P1 for long.

Leclerc sealed it on his final attempt.
A clean lap.
A strong final sector.
1:34.802 to finish FP1 on top.

Alex Albon delivered the surprise in P2 with 1:34.968, lifting Williams above Tsunoda and Verstappen. Sainz rounded out the top five. Norris recovered to P6. Hadjar impressed again in seventh. Oscar Piastri ended eighth after a messy Soft phase. George Russell and Kimi Antonelli closed out the top ten.

A session shaped by temperature and surface.
A track still half green.
A grip window that punished anyone who pushed too early.

FP1 Final Classification

1. Charles Leclerc — 1:34.802

2. Alexander Albon — 1:34.968 (+0.166)

3. Yuki Tsunoda — 1:35.071 (+0.269)

4. Max Verstappen — 1:35.109 (+0.307)

5. Carlos Sainz — 1:35.179 (+0.377)

6. Lando Norris — 1:35.258 (+0.456)

7. Isack Hadjar — 1:35.299 (+0.497)

8. Oscar Piastri — 1:35.450 (+0.648)

9. George Russell — 1:35.534 (+0.732)

10. Kimi Antonelli — 1:35.538 (+0.736)

Between Sessions — Surface, Wind and Setup Work

Teams spent the break studying how quickly the track evolved and how slowly the tyres warmed up. The drizzle between sessions didn’t help. It washed away rubber and left moisture through the first sector.

Warm-up became the priority.
Ferrari adjusted out-lap preparation.
Mercedes studied tyre temperatures across their long runs.
Red Bull focused on rear stability in the long corners.
McLaren split rear-wing setups for the evening session.

The question was simple.
Would the track finally settle or stay unpredictable under the lights?

FP2 — Norris Takes Control as the Track Finally Switches On

FP2 began slowly. Drizzle fading. Track half awake. Most teams waited rather than waste laps on a surface that felt slippery corner to corner. When the field rolled out, the first runs were cautious.

Verstappen logged the first serious lap with a 1:36.029. Russell followed. Both looked tidy. Neither fully trusted the grip.

McLaren stayed in the garage early, letting others clear the last damp patches. Once Norris headed out, the change was instant. He moved straight into the 1:34s. When the Softs arrived, he delivered a 1:33.602. That lap stood for the rest of the session.

Piastri showed glimpses but abandoned his best attempt. McLaren continued their rear-wing test, a split Zak Brown said would be resolved before FP3.

Ferrari’s night unravelled late.
Leclerc had already moved inside the top three when he locked up heavily, sliding toward the wall before rescuing it. Moments later he stopped at Turn 5 with a shifting failure, rolling behind the barriers and ending his long-run programme early.

The midfield produced some of the most complete laps.
Hadjar climbed to P5 with another sharp Soft run.
Lawson followed in P6.
Hülkenberg kept Sauber inside the top four.
Sainz flashed purple in Sector 1 before running wide.
Gasly stayed around the edges of the top twelve.

Wind picked up mid-session.
Lock-ups increased.
Front graining returned.
Bearman added a heavy flat spot. Norris ran wide under braking minutes later, escaping without trouble.

Then came the red flags.

The first stoppage arrived just as Russell was piecing together his best lap. No stranded car. No clear incident. Marshals moved quickly toward a section of the track surface. The pattern matched the caution used during the loose drain cover incident that halted the 2023 Las Vegas FP1 session. No official explanation was issued, but the hints felt familiar.

A second stoppage came when Leclerc’s car failed.

When FP2 finally closed, Norris stayed on top with 1:33.602.
Antonelli took P2, just 0.029 behind.
Leclerc held P3 despite the stoppage.
Hülkenberg was fourth.
Hadjar, Lawson, Russell, Albon, Verstappen and Hamilton rounded out the top ten.

McLaren rebounded from FP1.
Mercedes looked confident on both fuel loads.
Ferrari lost momentum.
Red Bull were tidy without controlling the hour.

Thursday leaves the order unclear.
The track is still evolving.
The grip window is narrow.
And the late red flags leave more questions than answers.

FP2 Final Classification

1. Lando Norris — 1:33.602

2. Kimi Antonelli — 1:33.631 (+0.029)

3. Charles Leclerc — 1:33.763 (+0.161)

4. Nico Hülkenberg — 1:33.879 (+0.277)

5. Isack Hadjar — 1:33.893 (+0.291)

6. Liam Lawson — 1:33.901 (+0.299)

7. George Russell — 1:34.037 (+0.435)

8. Alexander Albon — 1:34.067 (+0.465)

9. Max Verstappen — 1:34.105 (+0.503)

10. Lewis Hamilton — 1:34.127 (+0.525)

Coffee Corner Take

Thursday didn’t give us clarity.
It gave us questions.

McLaren recovered quickly after a messy FP1. Norris handled the cold grip better than most and looked settled once the Softs switched on. Piastri is closer than the times suggest, but he needs a smooth FP3 to tie his weekend together.

Mercedes looked assured. Antonelli’s calm late-season form stood out again. Russell had strong pace too, but the red flag cut his best lap short.

Ferrari sit somewhere in the middle.
Leclerc had speed in both hours, but the failure cost Ferrari their best long-run window. The front end still looks edgy in the slower corners.

Red Bull were steady without dominating. Tsunoda looked lively early. Verstappen stayed in range but didn’t complete a clean Soft lap.

The midfield is tighter than the tables show.
Hadjar and Lawson kept Racing Bulls firmly in play.
Hülkenberg carried Sauber into the top four.
Williams stayed competitive across both sessions even without a headline FP2 time.

And then there’s the track.
Surface evolution.
Wind.
Cold asphalt.
And a red flag that looked like a cautious surface inspection. Las Vegas hasn’t forgotten the 2023 drain-cover drama, and neither have the officials.

Thursday ends with uncertainty.
Everything can still swing by Saturday.
And the Strip hasn’t shown its full hand yet.

A frustrating finish.
A long list of questions waiting for answers.