Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc set the fastest time in the opening practice session of the 2025 Formula 1 season in Las Vegas, with Yuki Tsunoda faster than Max Verstappen.
In temperatures of just 14 degrees Celsius and extremely dusty conditions, Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc set the fastest time in the first free practice session for the 2025 Las Vegas Grand Prix on the Strip Circuit. Leclerc’s time of 1:34.802 minutes on soft tires was just under two tenths of a second faster than last year’s fastest time in the first free practice session.
Williams driver Alexander Albon finished second behind Leclerc, 0.166 seconds behind. Another tenth of a second behind was Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda in third place, just ahead of his teammate Max Verstappen.
Championship leader Lando Norris in the McLaren finished sixth at the start of practice in Las Vegas, 0.456 seconds behind. His title rival Oscar Piastri in the second McLaren was two tenths behind in eighth place.
Nico Hülkenberg in the Sauber remained at the back of the field, as did his teammate Gabriel Bortoleto, finishing 18th out of 20 drivers, 1.3 seconds behind. However, Sauber seemed to be focusing not on fast laps, but on tire work with the medium and hard compounds.
In general, the drivers struggled, especially at the beginning of the session on the still “green” track. “It’s incredibly slippery,” Liam Lawson radioed. This resulted in numerous braking errors.
What incidents occurred in the first free practice session?
There were a few, but none were particularly dramatic and none had serious consequences. The first free practice session saw nothing more than a few minor collisions with the wall and braking errors.
The hard braking zones proved to be the main focus of incidents: In turn 7 before the “Sphere” chicane, for example, championship leader Lando Norris skidded off the track. At turn 12 at the start of the long straight, Norris even strayed from the ideal line several times and had to take the emergency exit – but Norris was not the only one.
Isack Hadjar had problems of a completely different kind: he reported a “stone” in the cockpit that irritated him while driving.
What’s next in Las Vegas?
The second free practice session will take place on Friday morning at 5 a.m. (CET). Afterwards, Kevin Scheuren and Kevin Hermann will summarize the Formula 1 action in Las Vegas in a livestream, including a long-run analysis. The stream will begin at 2 p.m. on the Formel1.de YouTube channel and can be viewed again at any time afterwards.
