FP3: Russell Leads Piastri and Sargeant during final practice session in Las Vegas
FP3: Russell leads Piastri and Sargent during final practice in Las Vegas.
George Russell led the final hour of practice for the Las Vegas Grand Prix, with the Mercedes driver topping the time sheets in a session that was flagged at the last minute, prompting some not to finish the flight.
After a shortened FP1 and an extended second practice session on the opening day of the event, drivers returned to the Las Vegas Strip on Friday evening for another opportunity to familiarize themselves with the new 6.201km circuit.
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A variety of tire compounds were used in the early rounds of casual travel. Zhou Guanyu was among those stuck, with front-end locking a problem on some tracks, and Kevin Magnussen went wheel-to-wheel with Charles Leclerc after his short stint at Haas.
Some appeared to be struggling due to the poor grip conditions, but as the clock ticked past the halfway point, Leclerc appeared to have continued to set the pace as he set fast laps with team-mate Carlos Sainz from Thursday.
UNITED STATES 2023
Practice 3 results
POSITION TIME
1 RUS 1:34.093
2 PIA +0.398s
3 SAR +0.552s
4 VER +0.560s
5 PER +0.613s
With Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez coming out on top, it didn’t take long for Red Bull to throw in the towel. Verstappen was fastest with a time of 1 minute 34.653 seconds, still on his original set of solid wheels.
As the session progressed and the track continued to develop, the field switched to soft tires with an emphasis on single-lap speed.
Sometimes I started having moments where I went off track.
Even the world champion couldn’t avoid a flying lap at turn 12.
It was drama for Alex Albon as Williams lost a tire in the closing moments of FP3, raising a red flag. It was then decided that the session would not continue.
This put Russell on top of the grid with a time of 1:34.093, three tenths ahead of Oscar Piastri in second, with Logan Sargeant narrowly avoiding hitting the wall earlier in third.
After a quiet day for Red Bull on Thursday, Verstappen and Perez finished fourth and fifth respectively, with Albon sixth.
This put him ahead of Fernando Alonso in 7th and Lewis Hamilton in 8th. Valtteri Bottas and Magnussen completed the top ten.
Lando Norris finished 12th, ahead of Nico Hulkenberg in 11th, a different description of car to his teammate, while Lance Stroll, Esteban Ocon and Zhou took 13th, 14th and 15th.
Leclerc and Sainz lost to a red flag after failing to complete their flight on soft tyres. They finished the session at P16 and P17, respectively.
It was a quiet day for AlphaTauri.
Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo finished 18th and 20th in Pierre Gasly’s Alps.
Once weekend practice is complete, teams and drivers will have one last opportunity to debrief and finalize their preparations before the qualifying session begins at midnight local time.
