F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix LIVE: Practice updates and times in Sin City

Not sure what the issue is – but Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari has stopped at the side of the track!

The red flag is thrown! After only eight minutes!

And the Spaniard is leaving his car…

The first driver concerned about tyre temperature has been on the radio, and it’s George Russell!

Russell: “Grip is very low currently!”

I have to say, the cars do look spectacular zooming around the circuit! Has a look and feel of Singapore to it!

All the cars just feeling their way around the track so far…

Lance Stroll, Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu are the first cars out on track!

After a countdown on the Sphere, we’re away with the first 60-minute session!

Anticipation is very high in Vegas ahead of the cars going out on track for the first time.

Temperatures are mild as we near 8:30pm local time – around 15C.

How will the drivers manage this first one-hour session around the 17-turn circuit?

Long read by Kieran Jackson

The setting is the Indianapolis Motor Speedway: home to the world-famous Indy 500 race. Ahead of the 2005 United States Grand Prix, at a circuit modified for Formula 1, ITV pundit and former F1 driver Martin Brundle is interviewing the sport’s long-term supremo and commander-in-chief Bernie Ecclestone on the grid. And you may well say, nothing unusual about that.

What is more unusual is Brundle’s direct, bordering on combative, line of questioning. A huddle of camera crew and journalists huddle around, eager for answers. Because F1’s only race in the land of the free is about to become a farce. Out of 20 cars, only six take to the start line. For the sport and its tempestuous 55-year relationship with the US, it is the ultimate moment of absurdity. “The future of Formula 1 in America?” asks Brundle. “Not good,” Ecclestone replies.

It is a far cry from where the sport is stateside now. Formula 1 is pushing boundaries and breaking the glass ceiling in a manner which would be unambiguously imposing if it wasn’t in the United States. There are now three races, with this week’s grand prix on the Las Vegas strip following on from a highly successful rebirth of the US Grand Prix in Austin and a street track in Miami.

After 75 races at 11 different American venues, F1 has finally cracked the American code.

Las Vegas opens its doors to Formula One this week ahead of the inaugural race on the city strip – and anticipation is at fever pitch.

After more than three years of planning and $500m spent on a state-of-the-art pit building, F1 is on the cusp of its ultimate moment in the American spotlight in the entertainment capital of the world.

While the penultimate race of the 2023 season won’t have an impact at the top of the world championship standings, with Max Verstappen having already claimed the title last month in Qatar, the third US race of the year will be unique in the fact it takes place on Saturday night at 10pm local time (6am GMT, Sunday morning).

Lewis Hamilton was the notable exception on a night when numerous F1 drivers voiced their concerns about jet lag and the demanding end of season schedule.

This weekend’s inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix in the heart of Sin City takes place a week prior to the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi, 8,000 miles away.

F1 has a record 24-race calendar next season but even with this year totalling 22, Max Verstappen was among a number of drivers critical of the end of the season travel across the world.

1) Red Bull – 782 points (champions)

5) Aston Martin – 261 points

8) AlphaTauri – 21 points

9) Alfa Romeo – 16 points

Max Verstappen has criticised the “99% show, 1% sporting event” nature of this weekend’s inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix and lambasted Wednesday’s opening ceremony.

F1 is returning to Vegas for the first time in more than 40 years with a new street circuit, with F1 themselves promoting the event and building a new pit building to the tune of $500m.

But three-time world champion Verstappen, who was among the 20 drivers dramatically introduced to the crowd during Wednesday’s lavish opening ceremony via a lift onto a string of podiums, did not pull any punches about the spectacle of the event in Sin City.

1) Max Verstappen – 524 points (champion)

2) Sergio Perez – 258 points

3) Lewis Hamilton – 226 points

4) Fernando Alonso – 198 points

5) Lando Norris – 195 points

6) Carlos Sainz – 192 points

7) Charles Leclerc – 170 points

8) George Russell – 156 points

9) Oscar Piastri – 87 points

10) Lance Stroll – 63 points

11) Pierre Gasly – 62 points

12) Esteban Ocon – 46 points

13) Alex Albon – 27 points

14) Yuki Tsunoda – 13 points

15) Valtteri Bottas – 10 points

16) Nico Hulkenberg – 9 points

17) Daniel Ricciardo – 6 points

18) Zhou Guanyu – 6 points

19) Kevin Magnussen – 3 points

20) Liam Lawson – 2 points

21) Logan Sargeant – 1 point

21) Nyck de Vries – 0 points