FP3 is a Success as Russell Tops the Table in Las Vegas

FP3 was a success in Las Vegas with all of the driver able to set times. The session was red flagged in the closed minutes as Alex Albon (Williams) made contact with the wall and stripped the tire off of his rear left wheel. Albon was able to nurse the car back to the pits. Albon got on the brakes too deep which sacrificed his exit line and he ran out of room to straighten out the car; resulting in the collision.

George Russell (Mercedes) topped the table for the first time this weekend. Russell got a nice slipstream on his final flying lap which allowed him to pull ahead of Oscar Piastri (McLaren) who finished P2 by 4 tenths of a second. In surprising fashion Logan Sargeant in the Williams ran third fastest; a half a second off of the fastest lap. If this result is any indication of his qualifying pace it might be Sargeant’s best qualifying weekend of the season. Qualifying is three hours away so we will see if Sargeant can keep up the pace when everything is on the line.

Verstappen and Perez Miss Out Due to Traffic

Both Max Verstappen and Perez set fastest Sector 1 and 2 times but as they both headed into sector 3 there was an incident where Daniel Ricciardo had run off of the track and Max Verstappen had to abort into the safety lane. He wouldn’t get a chance to set another lap due to the timing of the red flag. Perez was also on a flyer, but also had to abort his lap after catching a bit of bad air rattling the stability of his car in middle of sector 2.

Every single car on the track ran soft tires in the closing minutes of FP3. Given the track temperatures at night in Las Vegas it was safe to say that no one would be on the hard tire this weekend in FP3. The track was at 64 degrees Fahrenheit during FP3 and that temperature is expected to drop come qualifying time which starts at midnight local time.

In the battle for second place in the championship Perez finished one tenth faster than Hamilton who struggled early in the session opting for the mediums, but soon cut tenths off his lap times as he switched to the soft tires. Qualifying for Hamilton will be extremely important because Perez can clinch second place in the championship this weekend. If Perez holds a 26 or more point lead after the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Hamilton will not be able to mathematically catch Perez.

Qualifying will take place at midnight local time.

Full FP3 Results are Below