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Lewis Hamilton led George Russell to a Mercedes one-two finish in opening practice for the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Hamilton trailed Russell by 0.396 after trading best times at the end of the session, having set the tone throughout the hour.
McLaren’s Lando Norris, still technically in the title fight, finished third, while Red Bull championship leader Max Verstappen finished fifth behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
Verstappen leads Norris by 62 points with three races remaining and will win his fourth title as long as he is not dominated by Norris by more than two points.
The drivers struggled from the start on a low-grip track with plumes of dust following the cars as they cleaned up a year’s worth of dirt in the desert city.
But although a number of them ended up in the runoff zone at Turn 14, at the far end of the famous Strip, there were no accidents during a largely incident-free session.
Carlos Sainz in the second Ferrari finished sixth, ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez completed the top 10.
