F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix Thursday practice sessions: Dusty, chilly, and windy

Mercedes, McLaren, and Ferrari drivers had the best lap times during the two 2024 Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix practice sessions on Thursday, November 21. All ten teams had to deal with chilly temperatures and slippery track surfaces. Several drivers commented on cold, windy conditions and slick tracks to their engineers via radio and in post-practice public statements.

The Las Vegas Grand Prix is a street circuit race, which poses challenges F1 teams don’t face with dedicated closed race tracks. The Las Vegas circuit transforms twice each 24 hours from Thursday to Saturday because it’s open to public traffic during the daytime but then converts to a closed race track in the evening.

The track surface is colder at night than during the day. Las Vegas is in the Nevada desert but can get cold at night. Last night, the temperature dropped to the low 40s, although it was sunny and in the mid-60s during the day.

Drivers also spoke of dirty, dusty, slippery surfaces, especially during FP1. Race tracks build up grippier race lines as cars drive laps at high speeds with racing tires that gradually lose their tread in 20 to 30 laps. Public traffic is dirtier and more random, which pretty much obliterates the race lines formed by successive race cars seeking the optimal lines to corner apexes.

Free Practice 1 results

The track conditions were poorest in the earliest laps during Free Practice 1. In the course of the evening, surface conditions improved with every lap because all 20 cars’ tires degraded. Tire management is always a key factor in F1 racing, and the teams’ choices of tire compounds, plus when and how often to change them, often determine how drivers finish a race.
Drivers with the ten fastest lap times during Free Practice 1

Free Practice 2 results

Drivers with the ten fastest lap times during Free Practice 2

On Friday evening, November 22, the teams will have a third practice session. The most important function of FP1 and FP2 is to gather data that the teams can use to fine-tune anything they can with the cars for the best lap times. Ideally, teams will have the data they need to prepare and test the cars during FP3, primarily for one further purpose: preparing them for the best lap times during Friday’s Qualifying event. Lap times from Qualifying determine the starting grid positions for the big event, the Grand Prix.