Alice Powell
British racing driver on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

[On the lack of grip on the track]: It's a low track surface, it's open to the public during the day so we've got big American trucks coming down, it's back to being normal Las Vegas.

We're used to racing in the 40-50 degrees track temperatures, it is currently 17.4 degrees which is a lot cooler than we're used to seeing.

Sergio Perez has joined Sauber's Zhou Guanyu on the medium tyres early doors while a lot of other drivers are just suiting up in the garage. The Mexican isn't happy with his opening laps, however, and tells his pit wall "ahhh, miles off!"

Liam Lawson told us it was like driving in the wet during yesterday's first practice and the RB man feels exactly the same today. "Slippery" is the word of the weekend.

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Over in the constructors' championship, it's a much tighter fight for the 2024 trophy.

McLaren are in pole position as we begin this final triple-header and hold a 36-point advantage over second-placed Ferrari, with Red Bull in third trailing the leaders by 49 points.

Alpine's stunning Sunday in Brazil last time out means the battle for sixth place has suddenly turned into a three-horse race, with the French team three clear of Haas and five ahead of RB.

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Where better to hold a championship party than in the city that calls itself the entertainment capital of the world?

Max Verstappen could become a four-time world champion this weekend if he stays 60 points ahead of nearest rival Lando Norris. The Dutchman is 62 points clear of the McLaren driver after his magnificent weekend in Sao Paulo with three races and one sprint event remaining.

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We'll do the sums on this to work out how much this lad was charging for his services.

Third practice is green.

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BBC Sounds

We're living in the future on this live page, as it's still Friday night for Harry Benjamin, Alice Powell and Andrew Benson.

The team are ready to take us through this final practice session, so ask BBC Sounds via most smart speakers to play Las Vegas Grand Prix practice three.

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Lewis Hamilton was 0.011 seconds quicker than Lando Norris in second practice but the performance of the Mercedes was a bit of a mystery to him and team-mate George Russell.

"Difficult to know exactly where we are or exactly why we are where we are," said Hamilton. "But really enjoying driving the track.

"The race pace is not that great, the work I have to do overnight is to figure out how I can have better race pace without losing pace through the lap."

Russell added: "Incredible day and I’d love to tell you why and to be honest we are scratching our heads a little bit."

The two drivers are separated by just two points in the drivers' championship following the rain-affected weekend in Sao Paulo. Russell sits in sixth on 192 points; Hamilton is right on his tail on 190.

Hello again, folks. The dusty, low-grip Vegas street circuit and chilly temperatures caused a few bumps in the road for teams across the paddock yesterday. But it was Mercedes who emerged on top thanks to a one-two in first practice and a first and third in second.

Third practice gets under way at 02:30 GMT.

Qualifying goes green at 06:00 GMT.

Commentary on both sessions is available on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, BBC Sounds and at the top of this page using the 'listen live' tab. You can also tune in via most smart speakers. Just ask BBC Sounds to play Las Vegas Grand Prix, followed by the current session.

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Lewis Hamilton was down after the Sao Paulo Grand Prix. Really down.

The seven-time world champion, coming to the end of his long career with Mercedes, said in the moments after finishing 10th position at Interlagos that he didn't really want to come back, and that chilling on a beach seemed like the better option.

Thankfully, those were just fleeting thoughts, and Hamilton returned to his car to top both sessions during Las Vegas' Thursday night practice running - even though he was baffled as to how that happened.

Mercedes' opening day form hasn't always translated into a stellar qualifying performance, though. So should we put our chips on silver for a surprise pole position today?