Lando Norris dominated heavily interrupted second F1 Las Vegas GP practice that was twice red-flagged for track-safety concerns over a loose manhole cover.
The McLaren driver delivered a 1:33.602 lap beating Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli by just 0.029s, as the field lost a significant portion of the final phase of running, leaving Formula 1 teams with an unusually chaotic preparation picture heading into Saturday.
FP2 unfolded in damp conditions following light rain, posing a bigger challenge to the drivers who had to also brave a street track that was already low on grip and punishing of mistakes.
For the opening minutes most teams held their drivers in the pits, monitoring track evolution and surface conditions rather than sending cars straight out on a green but slippery surface in cool desert air.
Only after roughly five minutes did the first cars venture out, initially on medium tyres and higher fuel to validate balance changes from FP1 and build temperature in the tyres and brakes before any serious times were attempted.
As the early laps ticked by, drivers reported variable grip and frequent lock-ups, especially into the heavy braking zones that define the Las Vegas layout, with its long straights and slow corners.
As the session approached its midpoint, the field began transitioning from baseline and long-run work into more aggressive performance runs, still largely on medium tyres.
Charles Leclerc who had set the pace in FP1, once again placed his Ferrari near the top of the times as the track rubbered in and confidence grew, even before the field switched en masse to the soft compound.
Behind him, the order shuffled repeatedly as McLaren, Mercedes and Red Bull drivers traded purple and green sectors while trying to time their laps around traffic on the narrow high-speed strip.
The defining part of the session came when the soft-tyre phase began and Andrea Kimi Antonelli immediately fired a warning shot by dislodging Leclerc from the top of the timing screens on his first serious attempt on the red-marked tyres.
Lando Norris later delivered what would prove to be the lap of the night, nudging ahead of Antonelli by 0.029s.
Full 2025 F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix FP2 Results
Charles Leclerc tops opening F1 Las Vegas GP practice as McLaren struggle
However, just as the grid was preparing for a second wave of qualifying simulations with several cars either on push laps or gearing up for them, the evening’s first major disruption struck.
With a little over 20 minutes remaining, race control triggered a red flag for track maintenance after a marshal reported a suspected loose manhole cover around Turn 17, forcing all cars back to the pit lane and halting what had become an intense, finely timed sequence of performance runs.
At that moment, George Russell was in the midst of a flying lap on soft tyres while others were yet to complete a fully representative time on the compound, leaving the classification somewhat unpolished.
The pause lasted roughly 15 minutes as personnel worked on the track surface, an echo of the drainage issues that have occasionally troubled the street circuit.
Once race control was satisfied that the track was temporarily safe, the session was restarted with approximately six minutes remaining, creating a frantic dash in which all 20 cars wasted no time in heading back out.
However, the drama was not over, as Leclerc’s Ferrari soon developed a gearbox issue that forced him to pull off near Turn 5, ending his session prematurely and freezing his earlier medium-tyre lap as his final effort.
Almost immediately, concerns resurfaced regarding the same manhole cover at Turn 17 that had triggered the first red flag.
Race control personnel remaining at the corner reported that the cover appeared to move as cars passed over it, prompting officials to re-issue the red flag and ultimately end the second F1 Las Vegas GP practice on safety grounds.
This prevented any further improvements, locking in Norris as the fastest driver ahead of Antonelli and Leclerc.
Nico Hulkenberg ended the session in fourth place, ahead of the Racing Bulls pair of Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson. George Russell was seventh, with Alex Albon, Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton rounding out the top 10.
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