F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Tricky Vegas track 'all about the braking' says Albon

Williams were relieved to get some time out on the new Las Vegas Strip track on Thursday night, with Alex Albon ending second practice tenth fastest just behind Lewis Hamilton and ahead of Lando Norris.

The session had been delayed after FP1 was abandoned just nine minutes in, following an incident in which a water valve cover was prised up and damaged the undersides of two cars.

Track workers inspected the circuit and made repairs allowing FP2 to get underway much later than planned at 2:30am local time. The session extended to 90 minutes in chilly conditions, but fans had been told to go home.

Despite all the problems, Williams were happy to get some laps in the books and get a feel for the brand new circuit. Albon and his team mate Logan Sargeant both completed 42 laps in the time available to them.

"It has been a very long day here in Las Vegas, but it was good to get some proper running in during FP2," said Dave Robson, Head of Vehicle Performance for the team.

"Both drivers showed good pace across the compound range and were able to gather a lot of useful data and experience," he continued.

"There isn’t a lot of working time between now and FP3, but we will use what time there is to learn from today’s running and find some more pace from the FW45."

Albon said that success this weekend would be all about how confident drivers were with their braking and how quickly they could get the tyres up to operating temperature.

"It’s a tricky track but it wasn’t too bad, however it’s going to be all about the braking. As soon as you get confident on the brakes, you’re going to be quite quick.

"Being a new track, the evolution is extremely high, but I do think we’re in good shape and the car is in a good place," he added.

"We’re going to have to do a bit of fine tuning which is expected, but the pace was good. I think the long run is a little more difficult because of the cold temperatures but otherwise I feel good."

Sargeant found Vegas a harder challenge and was slowest of anyone in FP2, almost three seconds off the pace set by Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.

"It was a tricky session with extremely low grip," he explained. "Obviously with the temperatures as well it’s taking a long time for the tyres to come in.

"There’s a lot of data to get through from that session. It’s really about switching the tyre on as quick as we can as that makes a huge difference for both me and the car and we’ll figure out the best way to do that.

"The long run at the end wasn’t too bad but we need to figure out the low fuel stuff for tomorrow," he admitted.

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.

Recent Posts

From Alps to F1: Antonelli’s first promo shoot for Mercedes

Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes' rising star, has a lot on his plate ahead of his Formula…

2 mins ago

Ocon's off-track upgrade: A stunning Ferrari 296 GTB

Esteban Ocon may not be driving for Ferrari in Formula 1, but that hasn’t stopped…

1 hour ago

When Big Dan put on a scary mask

Dan Gurney - ever the innovator - pioneered the use of Bell's full-face helmet in…

2 hours ago

Leclerc will match Verstappen’s aggressiveness when needed

Charles Leclerc says he can measure up to Max Verstappen’s uncompromising racing tactics if the…

3 hours ago

Marko reveals Lawson's performance target at Red Bull

Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko has set clear expectations for Liam Lawson as the…

5 hours ago

Hamilton’s Ferrari test schedule and race engineer revealed

Ferrari has reportedly prepared a comprehensive testing program for Lewis Hamilton that will unfold later…

6 hours ago