Las Vegas GP: Norris tops red flag disrupted second practice

Lando Norris topped a disrupted second practice session for the Las Vegas Grand Prix, which was twice halted in the closing stages due to concerns over a loose manhole cover at Turn 17.

The McLaren driver’s early soft-tyre benchmark proved untouchable once the red flags brought meaningful running to a halt.

Light rain before the session also left drivers wary, and it took five minutes before anyone ventured out onto what was expected to be a slippery 6.2km Strip Circuit. Grip was slow to build, with much of the early running focused on edging toward Charles Leclerc’s FP1 best of 1m34.802s.

• Las Vegas Grand Prix Free Practice 2 - Results

Oscar Piastri was the first to surpass that mark during medium-tyre phases, signalling rapid track evolution as rubber accumulated. Leclerc soon restored order, clocking a 1m33.763s – over a second faster than his FP1 time and good enough to lead the initial medium-tyre exchanges.

Soft-Tyre Shuffle and Red Flag Chaos

Kimi Antonelli then moved to the top on his first soft-tyre push, only for Norris to edge ahead by 0.03s with what became the session’s fastest lap. The soft-tyre runs were soon interrupted, however, when the marshals reported a potentially loose drain cover at Turn 17, prompting a red flag with 21 minutes left.

Following a 15-minute inspection, race control allowed the session to resume with six minutes remaining. All 20 cars headed back out for a final attempt, but Leclerc’s run was abruptly ended by a gearbox issue that forced him to pull behind the barriers at Turn 5.

Barely any meaningful laps were completed before the Turn 17 concern re-emerged, triggering a second red flag and ending the session prematurely.

That locked in Norris’ time at the top, ahead of Antonelli and Leclerc’s earlier medium-tyre effort.

Midfield Order and Notable Gaps

Nico Hülkenberg secured fourth, followed by Isack Hadjar and Racing Bulls team-mate Liam Lawson – separated by just 0.008s. George Russell took seventh ahead of Alex Albon, while Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton rounded out the top 10.

Championship hopeful Piastri finished a muted 14th, unable to improve after his early medium-tyre run.

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