P1racenews AI automatic summary:
George Russell set the pace in the third practice session ahead of qualifying for this weekend’s Formula 1 Las Vegas
In the final practice session, a red flag was raised after Alex Albon lost a wheel, allowing Mercedes driver George Russell to top the timesheets ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Williams’ Logan Sargeant. Most drivers took the opportunity to run on the Soft tires before qualifying, except for Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, who failed to complete a run on the softest compound. Russell emerged as the leader, followed by Piastri and Sargeant in third. Albon was also competitive until he collided with the wall at Turn 5, resulting in the loss of his left rear wheel. Max Verstappen finished fourth, one place ahead of his teammate Sergio Perez. Fernando Alonso took seventh, followed by Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas, and Kevin Magnussen. Due to Albon’s incident, neither Ferrari driver set a representative time on the Soft tires, leaving them in 16th and 17th positions. Lando Norris finished just outside the top 10, while AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo struggled, ending up in 18th and 20th places respectively.
