Las Vegas – EL2: Lewis Hamilton confirms on the Strip

This is not the first time we have seen Mercedes be the great champion of Friday. Unfortunately for the star, it can tend to fall into line on Saturday, when the competition has established itself and the track has cleared. Free practice 3, scheduled for tomorrow night at 3:30 in the morning, should indeed teach us a little more about the true strength of the Mercedes this weekend.

However, if we stick to the facts and the performance displayed this Friday, there are a thousand reasons to be optimistic for the troops of Toto wolff. After sticking a second to everyone in EL1, Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes again dominated the second session of the weekend, this time by a whisker ahead Lando Norris (+0 »011). George Russell is also in the running with a 3rd fastest time in the match, less than 2/10ths behind. Even if for the moment, his seven-time world champion teammate seems to have started his weekend better.

Expected to be competitive here in Las Vegas, Scuderia Ferrari is slightly behind. Not sure that we should be overly concerned, however, for the team of Maranello, who dominated with Charles Leclerc the first half hour on the medium tyres. The race pace was also quite encouraging compared to the competition and the best time of Sainz is only 2/10ths of Hamilton's reference time.

Already in the top 10 during EL1, Pierre Gasly signs the 6th beat of the session. Alpine, who finished 4th last year with Esteban Ocon on this track, will it be able to score big points again? The lights are green for the moment. Esteban Ocon is 12th. Also noteworthy is the solid performance of Haas, with Kevin Magnussen (7e) and Nico Hulkenberg (9th). The two men are separated by Oscar piastri, disappointing in 9th position and still slow to get into the rhythm compared to his teammate.

At Williams, Alex Albon was initially held in his garage due to a fuel supply problem. Since when he finally took to the track, the Thai was forced to immobilize his car on track, causing a short red flag sending everyone back to the pit lane.

As for the world championship leader, it's hard to see very clearly. The Red Bulls did not set any fast laps on soft tyres, which explains the 17th and 19th positions of the duo of Milton Keynes. Max Verstappen has nevertheless complained several times about the lack of grip on the track. The Dutchman has not yet fully found his bearings.

ALSO READ > Las Vegas – EL1: Mercedes and Hamilton impress from the start