Las Vegas GP Practice Preview: What to Watch in FP1 & FP2

Las Vegas GP Practice Preview: What to Watch in FP1 & FP2

Neon nights, colder air, and a 6.201 km sprint through glitter and concrete. The Las Vegas Grand Prix returns with a layout that rewards ruthless efficiency down the Strip and composure through low‑grip braking zones. With the title fight tightening and practice running in prime‑time slots, FP1 and FP2 are where teams lock in the tyre prep, drag levels, and cooling that decide Saturday night. McLaren arrive as back‑to‑back constructors’ champions and with Lando Norris 24 points clear of Oscar Piastri in the Drivers’ standings — but Vegas has a habit of flipping the script.

Planning your own title permutations? Run scenarios with our live Championship Calculator at /simulate.

The essentials: schedule, circuit, tyres

• FP1: Thursday, November 20 — 4:30 p.m. local (PST)
• FP2: Thursday, November 20 — 8:00 p.m. local (PST)
• Qualifying: Friday, November 21 — 8:00 p.m. local
• Race: Saturday, November 22 — 8:00 p.m. local.

Circuit snapshot: 6.201 km, 17 corners, two DRS zones, 50 laps, and 215+ mph (345+ km/h) top speeds down the Strip. Sessions are two hours earlier than in previous editions, a change that should slightly ease tyre warm‑up versus the coldest midnight windows.

Tyres: Pirelli bring the softest trio — C3 (hard), C4 (medium), C5 (soft) — again. Expect a premium on preparation laps and careful surface conditioning to avoid front‑axle graining. Pirelli’s 2025 construction tweaks should shave degradation, especially on the C4, but the graining risk remains if out‑laps are rushed.

Strategy guardrails: safety car and virtual safety car are both ~50% likelihood here, and green‑flag pit loss hovers around 20s including the stop — numbers that make track position elastic and undercuts opportunistic.

What to watch in FP1: building the baseline

FP1 is about establishing an operating window in conditions that will be cooler than most street events but a touch warmer than the inaugural year’s graveyard shift. Teams will concentrate on three pillars:

1) Aero efficiency and drag level scans

Las Vegas rewards Monza‑style efficiency without the same tyre‑energy profile. Watch for trimmed rear wings, lower beam‑wing angles, and taped‑up cooling exits on exploratory runs. The speed‑trap figures at the end of the Strip will tell you who’s trimmed; sector‑to‑trap deltas will reveal who’s carrying low drag without sacrificing rotation in the twisty middle. Expect Williams and Red Bull to probe high‑efficiency packages early, while McLaren and Mercedes will look for the sweet spot that preserves tyre temp through the slow corners. Circuit geometry and DRS count magnify these choices.

2) Tyre warm‑up choreography

The C5 will switch on quickest but is most vulnerable to graining if pushed before the surface has temperature; the C4/C3 require longer prep and disciplined brake/tyre conditioning on out‑laps. Teams will vary prep laps (one heavy, one light) and experiment with lift‑and‑coast zones to balance carcass and surface temperatures before a push lap. Expect traffic management drills: the lap is long, the field spreads wide, and timing a clean launch is half the lap time at night here.

3) Brake and PU cooling checks

Long straights mean cool discs into heavy‑braking turns (notably T7 and T14‑16), so expect rake‑sensor runs and blanking tests to stabilise peak pressures without glazing. Power‑unit deployment maps will be tuned for the Strip’s sustained full‑throttle — more ERS release at high speed, then harvest in the twisty section — and for the earlier session temperatures vs previous years.

What to watch in FP2: qualifying reps and race‑pace reality

FP2 is the money session. With start time mirroring qualifying, the grip and temperature windows align — this is where the single‑lap pecking order peeks through and long‑run tyre life gets its first serious read.

1) Peak one‑lap pace

Expect a progression from C4 banker laps to C5 low‑fuel flyers, with prep‑lap variance the hidden variable. Pay attention to micro‑sectors through T12 to T14‑16; Vegas rewards a squared‑off, patiently late apex at T14 that opens the throttle early for the chicane exit. The strongest FP2 programmes will line up sector 1 rotation with sector 3 stability to keep the C5 alive until the braking for T14.

2) Long runs: C4 durability vs C3 safety

Teams will simulate 8‑12 lap runs on the C4 and shorter blocks on the C5 to map graining onset and recovery. With Pirelli’s construction update, expect slightly flatter wear curves than last year, but a mis‑timed push phase will still punish the fronts. The C3 remains the security blanket for first stints on Sunday if temps tumble or graining spikes.

3) Safety‑car windows and the 20s pit delta

A 20‑second green‑flag loss means the undercut only shines if you can guarantee out‑lap bite; otherwise, the overcut in clean air may still win when the C4 stays in the window. Teams will model SC/VSC pit triggers around laps 12–18 and 30–38 to catch tyre resets without burying track position.

Team storylines to track through practice

• McLaren: Norris leads the championship on 390 points with Piastri on 366; both own seven wins and have the outright fastest car more often than not. McLaren’s duty cycle in FP2 will likely prioritise risk control for Norris while keeping Piastri’s set‑up divergence alive to attack Saturday. Vegas, however, wasn’t McLaren’s best venue in 2023/2024, so watch whether their 2025 low‑drag kit holds tyre temps through the slow‑speed complexes.
• Mercedes: Kimi Antonelli’s rise — and last year’s Vegas 1‑2 for the team — makes straight‑line efficiency plus rear‑axle grip a key watch. If their FP2 long‑run drop‑off sits below 0.08s/lap on the C4, they become the race‑stint benchmark.
• Red Bull: Top‑end speed remains a weapon, but the car’s 2025 balance window has been narrower in cooler conditions. Their FP2 prep‑lap discipline on the C5 will telegraph whether Verstappen can turn the Strip into overtaking leverage rather than tyre‑warm‑up jeopardy.
• Ferrari: One‑lap potency has been better than race‑run resilience lately. If Leclerc/Hamilton can keep front‑left graining under control across 10‑lap C4 runs, Ferrari re‑enters podium projections; if not, they’ll lean on track position and SC timing. Ferrari sit fourth in the constructors with 362 points.
• Williams, RB, Haas, Sauber, Alpine, Aston Martin: Efficiency merchants like Williams may light the traps; Haas can spring a qualifying surprise if the C5 window opens immediately; RB’s rookies have shown late‑season bite; Sauber’s Nico Hülkenberg has repeatedly starred in low‑grip Fridays. FP2 long‑run stability will sort who can convert top‑speed headlines into Sunday points.

RaceMate’s FP data checklist

Use this checklist during FP1/FP2 to separate noise from signal:

• Out‑lap delta vs push lap: Compare +1.5s, +2.5s, and +3.5s prep‑laps; identify which produces the smallest front‑axle slip spike into T7.
• Sector‑to‑trap correlation: High trap with stable S2 = efficient aero; high trap with weak S2 = over‑trimmed, skating rears.
• Deg curve slope: For 8–12 lap C4 runs, anything <0.07s/lap is strong; >0.10s/lap signals Sunday pain.
• Brake temp stability: Look for lock‑ups at T7 and T14‑16 on high‑fuel; repeated front‑inside smoke indicates camber and blanking adjustments are needed.
• Traffic cost: Timestamp how many quali sims are compromised by traffic at T12 entry; expect 0.10–0.25s variability on the C5.
• ERS deployment timing: Early deploy on the Strip vs late squirt after T12 — which map pairs best with your drag level?
• SC/VSC rehearsal: Teams will practice hitting virtual pit windows; note delta laps that consistently trigger double‑stack readiness.

Championship context heading into practice

• Drivers: Norris 390, Piastri 366, Verstappen 341 — a 24‑point McLaren‑only gap at the top with 83 points still available across three GPs plus one Sprint. Translation: Vegas cannot crown Norris, but it can set up an early clinch at the Sprint next weekend if the gap stretches beyond 50.
• Constructors: McLaren are already champions (756), with Mercedes (398), Red Bull (366) and Ferrari (362) scrapping for P2–P4. That status shapes run‑plans: McLaren can bias the title lead; the rest are free to gamble on set‑up splits to chase positions and prize money.

For deeper context on trends that carry into Vegas, see our recent pieces: Predicting the Las Vegas Winner Using 75 Years of Data, Development Tracker: Who’s Bringing Upgrades to Las Vegas 2025?, Las Vegas Track Guide: High‑Speed Strip, Setup & Cooling Challenges, Qualifying Kings: Which Drivers Deliver Under Pressure?, and F1 Tyre Strategy Through the Decades — Lessons for Las Vegas.

Early strategy read from practice

• Baseline: One‑stop (C4→C3) remains plausible if temperatures stay mild and graining is controlled; two‑stop (C5 starts or C4/C5 mixes) becomes attractive if FP2 shows high front‑axle shear. Earlier session times should slightly help warm‑up, but they won’t erase the prep‑lap finesse Vegas demands.
• Pit windows: With a ~20s green‑flag loss, undercuts live or die on out‑lap bite; the overcut is viable if clean air persists. Safety Car/VSC rehearsal in FP2 will inform whether teams bias harder compounds for longer first stints to keep options open.

Conclusion: FP is the difference maker in neon

Las Vegas punishes impatience and rewards teams that treat practice like a lab. FP1 sets the map; FP2 writes the plan. Watch the out‑lap discipline, the drag levels on the Strip, and the C4’s long‑run slope — those three threads will pull the weekend’s tapestry into focus.

Track what you see and run your own permutations in real time with /simulate. Then join us for our qualifying breakdown and race strategy layer once the lights go out on Saturday night.