Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton during practice.
Credit: Reuters photo
Las Vegas: Lewis Hamilton was fastest in Las Vegas Grand Prix practice on Thursday with McLaren's Lando Norris splitting the two Mercedes and George Russell completing a British trio on top of the Formula One timesheets in the second session.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who won last year's race and can claim a fourth successive championship on Saturday night, was 17th at the end of the day -- two seconds off the pace but without using the soft tyre.
Ferrari-bound seven-time world champion Hamilton had felt like walking away from Mercedes after the previous race in Sao Paulo, saying it had been the worst his car had ever been, but he was back with a bang in the Nevada desert.
The Briton topped the first practice timesheets in one minute 35.001 seconds, 0.396 seconds ahead of Russell and 0.953 quicker than Norris in cool, slippery conditions around the glitzy city streets.
Hamilton lapped in 1:33.825 in the late night session, with Norris 0.011 slower and Russell 0.190 off the pace. The times were all set on the fastest, soft tyres with all drivers struggling for grip on the fast circuit.
Ferrari's Carlos Sainz was fourth fastest with team mate Charles Leclerc fifth and Alpine's Pierre Gasly sixth.
Norris's Australian team mate Oscar Piastri was eighth for McLaren, who are fighting a tight constructors' battle with Ferrari.
Verstappen's under-fire Mexican team mate Sergio Perez was only 19th in practice two.
Second practice was red flagged when Alex Albon's Williams came to a halt. The Thai had been late out of the garage as his team dealt with a fuel system issue that then led to the breakdown.
Valtteri Bottas was handed a five-place grid penalty for exceeding the limit of power unit components after starting practice with a new energy store.
The opening practice along the transformed Las Vegas Strip was far more successful than last year when the session lasted a mere eight minutes before Sainz's Ferrari was badly damaged by a loose drain cover.
Verstappen will be champion again if he beats Norris on Saturday or the McLaren driver fails to score three points more than him.