F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix: Ferrari's Charles Leclerc Dominates Free Practice 2 Despite Challenging Day 1

After water valve cover issues plagued the first practice session for the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc led Ferrari to a 1-2 finish in the second practice session. Among the notable results are Fernando Alonso's third-place finish and Red Bull's Max Verstappen's sixth-place finish. After Carlos Sainz of Ferrari and Esteban Ocon of Alpine sustained significant damage in FP1, track surface repairs along the famous Strip delayed the start of the practice by 2.5 hours.

Due to shift changes among the security workers, fans were noticeably absent from the track during FP2 and the following practice session. During the first half of the 90-minute session, drivers used a combination of soft and medium tyres to make up for the earlier lost track time. They did long first stints in order to find out how many laps were necessary to get the tyres ready for a fast lap.

Different drivers took turns setting the fastest lap times throughout this stage, taking advantage of the improving track conditions when new tyres were introduced. A new strategic factor for the teams was the time it took for the tyres to heat up on the new, flat surface.

Also Read: F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix: FP1 Cancelled as Track Issues Cause Heavy Damage to Carlos Sainz's Ferrari SF-23

F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix: Free Practice 2 Result

Fourth place went to Sergio Perez of Mexico in the second Red Bull, who showed his low-grip expertise by passing Valtteri Bottas of Alfa Romeo, who was sporting the team's Vegas-themed livery. Max Verstappen was sixth, 0.918 seconds behind Leclerc, and plainly unhappy with the way his RB19 was driving after he had a few off-track experiences.

With Haas's older car specification, Nico Hulkenberg finished seventh. His teammate Kevin Magnussen, flying the upgraded VF-23, finished 13th, four-tenths behind. The top 10 was rounded out by Lance Stroll, Lewis Hamilton, and Alex Albon. Lando Norris finished 11th, beating Oscar Piastri and Mercedes'sGeorge Russell as well as rivals Magnussen and Kevin Magnussen.

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F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix: Carlos Sainz Gets 10 place Grid Penalty

During the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Carlos Sainz will receive a 10-place grid penalty due to an unusual occurrence that resulted in the wreckage of his Ferrari during the opening practice session. Ferrari's best efforts to convince the stewards to overturn the penalty were unsuccessful, and despite their preference to not penalise him, he will be forced to drop 10 spots on the starting grid.

After crashing into a loose water valve inspection cover along the Strip, Sainz was forced to leave FP1, and the start of FP2 was pushed back for two and a half hours. Alpine driver Esteban Ocon's car also sustained damages after colliding with the same covering but at a slower pace. Ocon's front car floor was noticeably damaged, and the tub received significant tears from the hit. Despite Ocon's chassis swap, his reworked vehicle appears to have avoided any grid penalties.