Two red flags late in the second practice session for the Las Vegas Grand Prix led to frustration amongst the drivers and clouded the picture as to who has the edge going into the remainder of the weekend.
McLaren's championship-leading Lando Norris finished quickest with a lap of 1:33.602s, 0.029s clear of Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc third fastest, 0.161s off the pace.
The first of the red flags, however, was flown just as the soft-tyre runs were in full swing, with several drivers not even managing a lap on Pirelli's quickest rubber.
The stoppage was a result of a loose manhole cover, leading to a 16-minute delay. Despite the suggestion that there was nothing untoward following an inspection, when the action resumed with just six minutes remaining, it was clear from reports that there was an issue, leading to the second red flag, and ultimately, the end of the session.
Result Free practice 2 - Las Vegas
McLaren show pace
A very light shower just before the start of FP2 meant there was no rush for any driver to take to the track. There were five minutes of inactivity before Alpine's Franco Colapinto was the first to emerge.
After 15 minutes, it was Red Bull's Max Verstappen who led the way with a 1:36.029s on the medium compound, which was the tyre of choice for all the drivers early on. It was a time that did not last long, though.
Within three minutes, there were nine drivers ahead of Verstappen, spearheaded by Mercedes' George Russell with a 1:35.066s ahead of team-mate Antonelli, just 0.075s adrift.
After McLaren sparked into life after its struggles in FP1, with Norris ahead of Oscar Piastri, Russell then comfortably lowered the leading time to 1:34.340s, with Antonelli again hot on his heels. 0.065s down.
Despite a track temperature of 16.8°C and an air temperature of 14.1°C, track evolution was high as Norris powered to a 1:33.943s, 0.184s ahead of Lewis Hamilton in his Ferrari, before Verstappen slotted into second, 0.162s down.
It was not long before last year's leading FP2 time of 1:33.825s, set by Hamilton for Mercedes, was beaten by the Briton's current team-mate Leclerc with a lap of 1:33.763s.
As the first driver on the softs, Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson was still 0.138s behind Leclerc, before Antonelli finally deposed the Monégasque by 0.132s, only for Norris to quickly usurp the teenager by 0.029s.
With Russell on a flyer, in particular purpling the first sector, the first red flag was flown. Initially, it was unclear as to why, before a suggestion of a loose drain cover at T17.
The FIA noted that, "Following a marshal report of a possible loose manhole cover before Turn 17, race control were unable to confirm this information from the CCTV available.
"The session has been red-flagged as a precautionary measure, and race control personnel are currently on-site assessing the situation."
At a critical juncture in the session, and with the times tumbling, the red flag cost 16 minutes of track action.
A follow-up message from the FIA read, "Following an inspection, we are confident everything is in a suitable condition to resume the session."
For Leclerc, though, the resumption lasted a matter of seconds due to what he reported as a gearbox failure.
Moments later, the session was red-flagged again for what the FIA described as "track maintenance".
The FIA then stated, "Some race control personnel remained on-site when the session was restarted.
"They reported that the manhole cover was moving as cars passed over it, which led to the session being ended under red-flag conditions. Further inspections are underway."
Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg was fourth quickest, ahead of Isack Hadjar and team-mate Lawson, followed by Russell, Williams' Alex Albon, Verstappen, and Hamilton, the latter half a second down.
The mix of tyre compounds amongst the top 10, however, meant there was no clear picture as to the pecking order, with Piastri one of those heavily compromised by the stoppages, with the Australian 14th on the timesheet.
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