It hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing so far at the Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix.
The opening day of practice was marred by a broken manhole, which caused significant damage to Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari and ultimately saw FP1 abandoned.
FP2 then eventually took place at 2:30 a.m. local time with fans unable to watch at the track due to “logistical considerations”.
Teams, drivers and fans alike will now be hoping for an incident-free evening as we build to the penultimate race of 2023.
The Sporting News is following qualifying live, providing updates from Q1, Q2 and Q3 below.
WATCH: F1’s Las Vegas Grand Prix live in the U.S. with Fubo (free trial)
F1 grid, qualifying times for Las Vegas Grand Prix
Position Driver Team Qual. time 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:33.837 12 Sergio Perez Red Bull 1:33.855 13 Nico Hulkenberg Haas 1:33.979 14 Lance Stroll* Aston Martin 1:34.199 15 Daniel Ricciardo AlphaTauri 1:34.308 16 Lando Norris McLaren 1:34.703 17 Esteban Ocon Alpine 1:34.834 18 Guanyu Zhou Alfa Romeo 1:34.849 19 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:34.850 20 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 1:36.477
*Will serve a five-place grid penalty
F1 qualifying live updates from Las Vegas
8:00 left of Q3: Ferrari set the early pace yet again, with Leclerc and Sainz leading the way. Verstappen is less than a tenth behind after his first lap.
START OF Q3: Here we go… A dramatic 10 minutes awaits.
END OF Q2: Another two big names have missed out on Q3, with Hamilton and Perez both eliminated!
That marks the ninth time Perez has failed to make the top 10 in qualifying this season for Red Bull.
Stroll — who will serve a five-place grid penalty for the race — is also out, alongside Hulkenberg and Ricciardo.
Meanwhile, both Ferraris are looking rapid and will be the ones to beat in the final session.
Some big names exit in Q2 👀
Checo and Lewis are both out!
11. Hamilton
12. Perez
13. Hulkenberg
14. Stroll
15. Ricciardo#LasVegasGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/pbwFJtOWnb
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 18, 2023
4:00 left of Q2: Every driver is now on brand-new soft tires. Both Haas drivers currently sit in the top 10 — will we see any surprise inclusions in Q3?
6:00 left of Q2: Still very close, with less than half a second splitting the top eight drivers. Hamilton and Russell sit at the summit as things stand.
10:00 left of Q2: Things are tight at the top early. Alonso leads the way but Perez and Leclerc are both less than a tenth of a second behind.
START OF Q2: Drivers are back on track in Vegas.
END OF Q1: Major disappointment for McLaren with Norris and Piastri both eliminated! They bundle out of Q1 along with Tsunoda, Zhou and Ocon.
There was some chaos on-track at the end of the session with several drivers getting in a tangle as they jockeyed for position.
Ocon and Verstappen notably made contact, with the later labelling his competitor a “stupid idiot” on the radio.
❌ OUT IN Q1 ❌
Both McLarens are out!
16. Norris 📸
17. Ocon
18. Zhou
19. Piastri
20. Tsunoda#LasVegasGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/ewitaas6Vb
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 18, 2023
4:00 left of Q1: Both AlphaTauri drivers — Ricciardo and Tsunoda — are in the elimination zone as teams send their cars out to complete their last laps.
6:00 left of Q1: Russell is the only driver yet to set a flying lap time. Mercedes teammate Hamilton is in a handy P3, though.
9:00 left of Q1: Sainz puts in a rapid lap and goes nearly seven-tenths faster than Ferrari teammate Leclerc as he tops the timing chart.
11:00 left of Q1: Leclerc and Verstappen have set the early pace, both going sub 1:35.
START OF Q1: We’re underway in the first-ever qualifying session at the Las Vegas Strip Circuit!
5 mins to qualifying: It’s worth noting that two drivers have been handed grid penalties for tomorrow’s race.
Sainz has a 10-spot penalty because Ferrari replaced multiple components on his car following damage sustained in FP1.
Lance Stroll will drop five grid spots after passing another car under double-waved yellow flags in FP3.
15 mins to qualifying: There was a curious incident in FP3 when Alex Albon made contact with the barrier.
Bizarrely, his whole tire came off but the wheel itself remained on the car, resulting in the session being red-flagged with a few minutes remaining.
Williams mechanics are still working on fixing the car as we approach qualifying.
🚩 RED FLAG 🚩
Alex Albon makes contact with the barrier and loses his rear tyre with less than 6 minutes remaining in FP3
The session will not be resumed#LasVegasGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/N9YpBVcrJX
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 18, 2023
30 mins to qualifying: Tonight’s qualifying session will begin at 12:00 a.m. local time, which is … quite late.
In fact, Americans on the east coast will have to tune in at 3:00 a.m. to catch the action live despite living in the same country.
Tomorrow’s race will also be a late one, scheduled for a 10:00 p.m. start local time.
Las Vegas Grand Prix CEO Renee Wilm explained the decision: “That was actually a compromise to make sure we are broadcasting at a time when our European fans can get up with a cup of coffee and watch the race six, seven in the morning, very similar to how we [in the US] watch the European races.
“So that was actually a very important component of planning out our sequencing for the race weekend.”
45 mins to qualifying: As the reigning world champion, Max Verstappen usually comes into qualifying as the clear favourite. Tonight, however, Charles Leclerc has a strong chance of taking out pole position.
The Ferrari driver topped the opening two practice sessions (although we shouldn’t read too much into the results of a shortened FP1). He went almost one second faster than Verstappen in FP2 and half a second quicker than teammate Carlos Sainz.
FP3 tossed up some funky results, with George Russell, Oscar Piastri and Logan Sargeant making up the top three.
We should be in for an exciting qualifying battle in Vegas.
1 hour to qualifying: Hello and welcome to The Sporting News’ live coverage of qualifying at the F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix.
As much as we’d like to be positive, it’s fair to say that it hasn’t been an ideal start to this race weekend. From the cancellation of FP1 to extensive inconvenience to locals, the new street circuit has drawn plenty of criticism.
Click here for a full breakdown.
F1 2023 schedule: What time is Las Vegas qualifying?
UK USA Canada Australia India Date Sat, November 18 Sat, November 18 Sat, November 18 Sat, November 18 Sat, November 18 Time 8:00 a.m. GMT 3:00 a.m. ET 3:00 a.m. ET 7:00 p.m. AEDT 1:30 p.m. IST
F1 2023 schedule: What time is the Las Vegas Grand Prix race?
UK USA Canada Australia India Date Sun, November 19 Sun, November 19 Sun, November 19 Sun, November 19 Sun, November 19 Time 6:00 a.m. GMT 1:00 a.m. ET 1:00 a.m. ET 5:00 p.m. AEDT 11:30 a.m. IST
What channel is F1 on this weekend?
F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix 2023 TV channel UK USA Canada Australia India TV Channel Sky Sports F1 ESPN2 TSN (English); RDS (French) Fox Sports N/AF1 Las Vegas Grand Prix 2023 live stream UK USA Canada Australia India Live Stream NOW TV / Sky Go app ESPN+, Fubo TSN Direct Kayo F1 TV Pro
WATCH: F1’s Las Vegas Grand Prix live in the U.S. with Fubo (free trial)
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