Lando Norris led the second practice session at the Las Vegas Grand Prix after a suspected loose drain cover delayed proceedings for more than 15 minutes.
A track marshal between turns 16 and 17 identified a potentially loose road connection, causing race control to suspend the session as a precaution.
It happened just as the field switched to the soft tire for qualifying runs. Only seven drivers, including Norris, had completed a lap on soft tyres, but even then most drivers noticed improvements after several laps.
There were just over 20 minutes remaining in the session, and the stoppage took up more than 15 of those minutes before the pit lane reopened with six minutes on the clock.
It was enough time for the field to filter up the track in an orderly manner, and it should have been enough time for everyone to get in one lap, but the session was suspended again due to what race control described as ‘track maintenance’, which essentially meant time for running.
The FIA later confirmed that the second suspension was again due to an unsecured drain cover before Turn 17.
It is the second session in three years of the Las Vegas Grand Prix to be influenced by separate road races. FP1 in the very first race of the 2023 race was called off after a loose water valve cover wrecked Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari just minutes into the session.
The double suspensions left Norris, who had only just completed his flying lap before the suspensions, unchallenged in first place.
Combined with the pre-session rain, which encouraged drivers to take to the track almost 10 minutes into the session, FP2 ended with very little running ahead of qualifying day.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli was just 0.029 seconds behind in second place, while Charles Leclerc was third, the Ferrari driver 0.161 seconds off the pace.
However, Leclerc’s session was over before the second red flag, when his gearbox failed just before Turn 5, forcing him to park behind the barriers.
The top three drivers all completed one lap on soft tyres, as did Nico Hulkenberg, Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson from fourth to sixth place.
Lance Stroll also drove a flying lap on soft tires, but the Canadian finished eleventh.
George Russell was seventh and just 0.435 seconds off the pace, but he was two sectors past a flying lap on soft tires – including a purple first sector – when the first red flag flew.
Alex Albon followed ahead of Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton and Stroll.
Pierre Gasly finished twelfth, ahead of Carlos Sainz, Oscar Piastri, Yuki Tsunoda, Franco Folapinto, Oliver Bearman, Fernando Alonso, Esteban Ocon and Gabriel Bortoleto, all of whom were unable to set a lap on soft tires due to the red flags.
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