Las Vegas – EL3: Mercedes on cloud nine, Red Bull comes from far away

The third free practice session may have prevented some drivers from setting a big lap at the end of the session due to a red flag waved following the mechanical problem encountered by Lance stroll, it seems that we are holding on with Mercedes the big favourite for qualification. Already faster on Thursday evening during the first two free sessions of the weekend with Lewis Hamilton, the brand with the star confirmed this Friday morning, setting the best time of the session with George Russell.

Not always as efficient on the second day as on the first at the Grand Prix, the German firm in any case confirmed this Friday evening all the ease seen on Thursday, doubtless again thanks to the cool temperatures. car has not disintegrated and the Silver Arrows should clearly be in the fight for pole position. On a track with once again precarious grip and which has never stopped improving, George Russell beat Oscar piastri (+0 »215) and Carlos Sainz (+0 »348).

McLaren et Ferrari indeed appear to be Mercedes' fiercest opponents at the moment, although both teams appear to be slightly behind. Note that Charles Leclerc was improving and had just taken the second sector record at the time of the red flag, but his time would probably not have been enough to go for the best time due to a less conclusive first sector.

Max Verstappen had a strange session. The Dutchman complained a lot about his single-seater, suffering from a lot of graining and regularly locking his wheels on the first stints on mediums. The Dutchman even asked to return to the pits for fear of crashing on his yellow rubber, while he was struggling to find grip on a particularly fresh circuit. A setting adjustment, no doubt, and a switch to soft rubber allowed the orange driver to get back into the battle half a second behind, but he seems to be lacking some at Red Bull, which would not have embarked the right rear wing according to the words of Helmut Marko…

Third top 10 in a row for Pierre Gasly (10th) in as many free sessions here in Las Vegas. The driver Alpine is however beaten by Kevin Magnussen (9th) whileAlpine et Haas are competing for 6th place in the constructors' world championship. Also a nice performance from Williams with Alex's 7th and 8th places respectively Albon and Franco Colapinto, even if the red flag at the end of the session did not allow everyone to improve. The qualification (7h) should in any case keep all its promises in terms of suspense.

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