Carlos Sainz and those “strange feelings” after two free practice sessions in Las Vegas. Carlos Sainz reflects on "strange feelings” after FP2 in F1 Las Vegas GP.

In a weekend where Ferrari seemed to be the favorite, Carlos Sainz analyzes the “strangeness” after the first two free practice sessions at the 6.2-kilometre Las Vegas Strip Circuit in Nevada, USA.

In FP1, the Scuderia posted the sixth and seventh best times, with the Spaniard and Charles Leclerc respectively. In the second free practice session, it was slightly better, with driver #55 finishing fourth, followed by his teammate.

In the cold Nevada night, Ferrari struggled due to the low grip of the track. “Today in Las Vegas was a complicated Thursday,” Carlos Sainz began in the post-FP2 interviews.

The main cause was “primarily the condition of the track, which had very little grip.” This led to “strange feelings in the car,” explained the future Williams driver.

“For the second session, we tried something different, but we’re still not satisfied with our position and we need to keep working on it.” – he pointed out.

The Spaniard remains optimistic: “We hope tonight’s analysis will help us identify the main areas for improvement, so we can go into tomorrow’s qualifying in better shape. The race pace wasn’t bad, but there’s still a lot of work to do.” – he concluded at the end of the second free practice session for the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton dominated the first two practice sessions with a Mercedes that looks quite competitive. George Russell and Lando Norris were also in the top 3.

Far behind was Max Verstappen’s Red Bull, who could secure his fourth world title right here in Las Vegas. The Dutchman complained about the lack of grip and compared driving on the track to “sliding on ice.” The three-time world champion ended FP2 in a rather anonymous 17th place.