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.

• Read also: Leclerc and Sainz take charge in FP2 as Vegas weekend finally gets underway

"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.

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