Lando Norris set the pace on Thursday in Las Vegas but he was one of few drivers who set a lap time on the soft tyres.

The overall picture therefore remains unclear ahead of qualifying. However Norris was surprisingly upbeat about McLaren’s performance at a track they did not expect to suit them.

Teams’ 2024 performance in context

Last year the usual pace-setters McLaren and Red Bull were barred from the front two rows by Mercedes and Ferrari – plus Pierre Gasly, who was flying in his Alpine.

Teams’ progress vs 2024

Mercedes were widely tipped to perform well but Charles Leclerc got up to speed quickly on Thursday, leading the first practice session. He looked quick in the second, too, until he was struck by a gearbox fault.

Leclerc failed to complete his first qualifying simulation run on soft tyres because he went wide at turn nine. That triggered yellow flags which spoiled the soft-tyre laps of other drivers, including McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.

Less than half of the field managed to set flying laps on softs in second practice: both Aston Martin, Mercedes and Racing Bulls drivers plus Norris, Alexander Albon and Nico Hulkenberg. The rest were all denied the chance when the session was red-flagged twice due to problems with a manhole cover.

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and

First and second practice times

With the likes of Max Verstappen, Oscar Piastri and the Ferrari drivers unable to set representative times, the competitive picture is far from complete.

But Norris gave McLaren an encouraging assessment of their pace: “I think we have a better feeling in the car than what we had last year, so that’s a positive, and that was felt I would say already [from] lap one of today.”

The team evaluated revised front and rear wing flaps over the first two sessions. They removed the latter for the second hour of running. Red Bull also had another update for their front wing and Verstappen looked able to match the front-runners’ laps throughout much of Thursday’s running.

The two sessions yielded more questions than answers, but there’s good reason to believe McLaren have gone some way to addressing their weakness at what was a bogey track for them in 2024.

P. # Driver Team FP1 time FP2 time Gap Laps
1 4 Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes 1’35.258 1’33.602 38
2 12 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1’35.538 1’33.631 0.029 48
3 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1’34.802 1’33.763 0.161 45
4 27 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber-Ferrari 1’36.170 1’33.879 0.277 39
5 6 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls-Honda RBPT 1’35.299 1’33.893 0.291 46
6 30 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls-Honda RBPT 1’35.709 1’33.901 0.299 44
7 63 George Russell Mercedes 1’35.534 1’34.037 0.435 43
8 23 Alexander Albon Williams-Mercedes 1’34.968 1’34.067 0.465 40
9 1 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Honda RBPT 1’35.109 1’34.105 0.503 40
10 44 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1’35.561 1’34.127 0.525 43
11 18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin-Mercedes 1’35.894 1’34.191 0.589 40
12 10 Pierre Gasly Alpine-Renault 1’35.589 1’34.373 0.771 44
13 55 Carlos Sainz Jnr Williams-Mercedes 1’35.179 1’34.435 0.833 47
14 81 Oscar Piastri McLaren-Mercedes 1’35.450 1’34.493 0.891 39
15 22 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull-Honda RBPT 1’35.071 1’34.692 1.090 43
16 43 Franco Colapinto Alpine-Renault 1’36.758 1’34.824 1.222 46
17 87 Oliver Bearman Haas-Ferrari 1’35.990 1’34.986 1.384 45
18 14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin-Mercedes 1’35.746 1’35.012 1.410 37
19 31 Esteban Ocon Haas-Ferrari 1’36.123 1’35.228 1.626 48
20 5 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber-Ferrari 1’36.398 1’35.499 1.897 40

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and

Miss nothing from RaceFans

Get a daily email with all our latest stories – and nothing else. No marketing, no ads. Sign up here:

2025 Las Vegas Grand Prix

Browse all 2025 Las Vegas Grand Prix articles