Lewis Hamilton praised race organizers for fixing the Las Vegas Grand Prix track in time to allow for an extended second practice session early Sunday morning, and said the brand new track is extremely fast.
The first practice session was canceled after Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz hit a loose manhole cover. After a delay of more than two hours, the drivers were able to return to the track for an extended 90-minute window.
“We’re traveling at some serious speeds out there,” Hamilton told Sky Sports F1 after posting the ninth-fastest time of the day. “It’s incredibly fast and it’s a lot of fun — I had so much fun today.
“I’m so glad we did get to run again. They did a great job to fix it and it was an interesting session.”
Hamilton has been one of the drivers to embrace the unique structure of the Las Vegas event. While he has raised concerns about the additional commitments being asked of drivers, the seven-time world champion has said that he believes Las Vegas is a good addition for F1 and is adjusting to the late starting time for on-track events.
“I had a blast,” he said of the practice sessions. “Everyone’s struggling with jet lag and all that stuff and I feel great.”
Mercedes teammate George Russell was also complimentary of the track after posting the 12th-fastest time during FP2.
“It’s a very fast circuit, the highest top speeds of the year probably, and obviously racing at night is pretty spectacular,”he said. “I think it is going to be an interesting race weekend.”
The third practice session is scheduled for 10:30 p.m. local time (PT) on Friday night.
“Every lap you do you are learning. You are all going faster, the track is getting faster, your braking points are changing,” Russell said.
“It’s tricky when you are going 230mph into those braking zones, picking your braking point with very little downforce on the car. It was good fun out there.”
–Field Level Media