Lewis Hamilton tops first F1 Las Vegas GP practice ahead of George Russell

Lewis Hamilton set the pace in the opening practice session for the F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix, going 0.396s clear of Mercedes teammate George Russell.

Mercedes enjoyed a strong start to their weekend in Sin City as Hamilton looked comfortable right from the off in the W15.

Hamilton and Russell led the timesheets at various stages through first practice as the majority of teams opted to do their initial runs on the medium tyre.

On the softs, Mercedes’ advantage was significant with Hamilton leaving it late to topple his younger teammate.

In the end, the nearest non-Mercedes driver was Lando Norris in third - 0.953s off Hamilton’s benchmark.

Mercedes haven’t finished on the podium since before the summer break, but they’ve consistently excelled in cooler conditions.

Norris was the only driver within a second, with Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen rounding out the top five.

Leclerc was 1.006s off Hamilton’s top time, although Ferrari are expected to go well this weekend.

Carlos Sainz was 1.2s off the pace in sixth ahead of Fernando Alonso, Oscar Piastri, Pierre Gasly and Sergio Perez.

Kevin Magnussen ran inside the top 10 for much of the session but ultimately set the 11th-best time in the Haas.

Lance Stroll was 1.8s off Hamilton’s pace in 12th overall, just ahead of Alex Albon and Esteban Ocon.

Valtteri Bottas was 16th and has been hit with a five-place grid penalty for a new energy store component.

RB endured a tough session - 19th and 20th for them.