In a time where the Ferrari chairman made headlines for his remark on the Scuderia’s Formula 1 drivers following a poor Brazil Grand Prix, everything looks much more positive after Thursday practice in Las Vegas.
Charles Leclerc topped the opening session before finishing third in FP2 while Lewis Hamilton could only muster 10th and 11th, but was caught out by various disruptions. It marks a stark contrast to Sao Paulo where the Italian outfit was off the pace immediately, having struggled with ride heights around the bumpy and hot South American circuit.
But in the cold, night conditions of Vegas it has clearly found something, despite Leclerc’s early end to the day. The Monegasque suffered a gearbox problem with approximately five minutes remaining in FP2, meaning he ducked behind the Turn 5 barrier after being told not to use his gear shift.
Leclerc clearly wasn’t too worried in his post-practice media session though, labelling it as “a bit of a misunderstanding in everything that happened”. He then confirmed “it will be all fine” before offering his expectations for qualifying on Friday night in Nevada.
“Honestly we are not in a bad place,” said the eight-time grand prix victor. “But we need to wait and see. I think the Mercedes is very strong and obviously McLaren and Red Bull are also in the fight so I think it’s going to be tight.
“I just hope we can build from now and be in the fight for pole tomorrow, but it’s been positive. I think the pace was strong today.”
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
Optimism hasn’t been the theme of Ferrari’s 2025 campaign considering it has failed to kick on from last year’s runner-up finish, where it was fighting for the title at the Abu Dhabi finale against eventual champions McLaren.
The Scuderia is fourth in the 2025 standings with three grands prix remaining and its only win came in the Shanghai sprint amid a season of McLaren domination. But Vegas has presented an opportunity for other teams, namely Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari, to fight for the win after the constructors’ champions struggles here last year with sixth and seventh due to its issues with tyre graining.
There is a widespread belief that something similar may happen this year – Vegas 2024 winner George Russell ruled out the chances of a McLaren victory on Wednesday – even if championship leader Lando Norris topped the twice red-flagged FP2 after taking sixth in FP1.
It is thus an opportunity somebody like Hamilton needs to pounce on after a disappointing debut year at Ferrari, as he searches for that first grand prix podium for the Italian team – Shanghai sprint win aside. He has as good a chance to do so after looking pretty solid on the opening day in Vegas, meaning not too much should be read into his lowly positions.
His quickest lap in FP1, for example, was disrupted by a slow Nico Hulkenberg ahead, while drivers used differing compounds during the stop-start second session. So the media session afterwards presented an actual upbeat Hamilton, which has been a rarity this year.
“I felt pretty decent,” said the seven-time world champion, who finished second in Vegas last year. “P1 generally felt good, I just didn’t get a lap in and then same thing in P2.
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Carlos Sainz, Williams
“We improved the car in P2 and I was feeling strong in sector one, same as I was in P1, but yellow flags and the red flags just got in the way unfortunately. But everyone’s in the same boat. I got some good learnings out there and I’m excited for tomorrow.”
The 40-year-old also stressed how slippery the track was in FP1, showing another example of how mastering the tricky conditions is key for success in Vegas. Regardless, Hamilton confirmed “we probably won’t make many changes tonight” because of how content he’s feeling, but Leclerc offered a differing opinion.
“It’s all about trying to anticipate what the conditions of tomorrow will be like and make sure that we start on the right foot tomorrow,” he said. “But I have pretty clear ideas of what I want to do with the car to try and improve it and we’ll see tomorrow if these were the right choices.”
Practice day didn’t offer many lessons, but Ferrari being in the frontrunning fight was certainly one of them.
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