The final session of Friday saw McLaren reclaim the top of the timesheets, with Lando Norris setting the fastest lap ahead of Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli by just 29 thousandths. Charles Leclerc finished third after being stopped by a late issue. The session was also interrupted by a dislodged drain cover, which significantly limited the teams’ qualifying simulations.
McLaren made its presence felt again. On what should theoretically be one of the least favourable tracks for showcasing the strengths of the MCL39, the team from Woking managed to hit back by finishing on top in the second free practice session in Las Vegas. Lando Norris clocked a 1:33.602 on soft tyres during his qualifying simulation to secure the best time.
Compared to the first practice session, McLaren made some changes to its wing configuration for FP2, with the British driver switching to a lower-downforce setup, particularly at the front. He abandoned the more extreme options that featured trimmed wings used earlier in the search for maximum top speed.
The gaps, however, remain small. Andrea Kimi Antonelli finished in second place, only 29 thousandths behind the leader. The Italian returned to the sharp end of the field alongside McLaren after a first practice session where Mercedes had been slightly off the pace while working through a different programme. It is also important to highlight that most drivers still had noticeable margin left to exploit.
The session was suspended due to a loose drain cover with just under fifteen minutes remaining, and then interrupted again with a few minutes still on the clock. Several drivers, including Antonelli, had returned to the track on the medium compound to test the car with more fuel on board, while others, who went back out on softs, were unable to improve because of the second and final stoppage.
The first red flag was triggered after a trackside marshal reported that a drain cover had lifted, sending race control personnel to Turn 17 to assess the situation. Initially, the decision was made to resume the session, but after observing that the cover continued to move when cars passed over it — something that had also happened in 2023 — officials decided to call the session off for good.
Among the drivers running on soft tyres was Charles Leclerc, who was forced to park his car in a runoff area just minutes before the end of the session due to a technical issue. The Ferrari driver still finished third, around a tenth and a half behind Norris, and fortunately the problem occurred only at the very end, preventing him from losing significant running time. The mechanics will now have the chance to carefully inspect the car and replace the gearbox ahead of tomorrow.
In fourth place, Nico Hulkenberg took his Sauber to an impressive position, with the gap to the top beginning to widen to over two and a half tenths.
Both Racing Bulls followed, with Isack Hadjar in fifth and Liam Lawson in sixth. The two Faenza cars were separated by just eight thousandths, and both remained within three tenths of the McLaren benchmark. George Russell was further behind, finishing only seventh and over four tenths off his teammate, while Alex Albon, Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton completed the top ten. Oscar Piastri could do no better than fourteenth, almost nine tenths down on Norris after aborting his single push lap on the softs.
It is worth stressing that most drivers completed just one real attempt on the soft compound, meaning there is still considerable time to be found — particularly on a street circuit where confidence and the search for the limit play a crucial role. Because of the interruption, there was also no opportunity for proper long-run simulations, leaving teams with only the data gathered at the end of FP1.
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