Lewis Hamilton was fastest in FP1 and FP2 (Image: Getty)
Lewis Hamilton made a stunning comeback from his Brazil Grand Prix nightmare by topping the timesheets in both practice sessions at the Las Vegas Grand Prix on Friday.
After expressing a desire to leave Mercedes following a dismal 10th place in Interlagos, Hamilton outpaced team-mate George Russell by 0.396 seconds in FP1 and later bested McLaren’s Lando Norris by just 0.011 seconds in FP2.
With Norris needing to close a 62-point gap on Max Verstappen to keep his championship hopes alive, Verstappen languished in 17th during the second session, trailing Hamilton by two seconds.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc claimed fourth and fifth respectively.
Hamilton, set to join Ferrari next season, confessed he considered ending his 12-year stint with Mercedes, which has brought him six of his seven world titles, after a challenging race in Brazil.
FP1 CLASSIFICATION The full rundown on first practice ??????
— Formula 1 (@F1)
FP2 CLASSIFICATION Another good session for Mercedes ?????? Work to do for Red Bull ??????
— Formula 1 (@F1)
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff acknowledged Hamilton’s emotional response, saying: “We all know that Lewis wears his heart on the sleeve. It was such a bad experience for him, that whole race weekend in Brazil, and particularly the Sunday, he said something that wasn’t, in a way, unusual.
“Now, this time was probably particularly bad. There are three races to go. He announced at the beginning of the year that he was joining Ferrari, and I am proud how we have achieved to maintain the professional relationships and we have given him a tool that is not good enough.”
Hamilton ended a two-and-a-half-year winless streak at the British Grand Prix in July, but he is seventh in the world championship, 203 points behind Verstappen and a place and two points back from Russell.
But the 39-year-old rolled back the years in Sin City to lay down an emphatic marker in the cold desert air which appeared to play to Mercedes’ strengths.
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Verstappen will claim his fourth consecutive title if he outscores Norris on Saturday. But the Dutch driver finished fifth in the opening running, and then ended the day way down the order as he struggled with the handling of his unruly Red Bull machine.
Last year’s opening session was delayed by a loose drain cover which ripped through Sainz’s Ferrari. The Spaniard was lucky to be unharmed as the track was repaired and the action finished at 4am in front of empty grandstands.
On Thursday there was no such blemish as both sessions ran smoothly.