Sergio Perez of Red Bull caught Lewis Hamilton off guard before Saturday’s action at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
During the drivers’ meeting on Saturday before the third practice and qualifying round of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Red Bull driver Sergio Perez recorded a video of Lewis Hamilton “sleeping.”
Even though the paddock was already experiencing jet lag prior to the on-track action in Las Vegas, all 20 drivers were forced to get back into their cars at 2:30 am local time for an extended, 90-minute FP2 session after Friday’s running was interrupted by a loose water valve cover.
Due to the ensuing exhaustion, Hamilton was obviously unable to handle it as he passed out during the drivers’ briefing prior to Formula 3.
Checo, who dutifully uploaded the video to his Instagram story with the caption, “Someone has some jet lag,” along with a laughing emoji, managed to catch Hamilton dozing off.
With the caption, “Beautiful sleep,” Hamilton reposted the video to his own story. The Mercedes social media administrator then added, “Just resting my eyes.”
Checo referenced Hamilton’s remarks from earlier in the weekend in his caption. The seven-time world champion maintained he was not feeling the effects of jet lag, despite the other drivers complaining about its effects.
Asked about the struggles ahead of the on-track action, Hamilton said: “I personally haven’t found it [jet lag] a problem. Still manage to keep training and I feel great.
I saw some of the drivers complaining about jet lag… but I’ve not found it a problem since I’ve been here. It is demanding but we know that entering the sport. If it was easy, we wouldn’t do it.”
Hamilton was very much in the minority on this front. Perez himself stated: “I’m finding it a bit crazy to stay awake so long at night. It’s quite a challenge, actually, to stay awake for so long.”
However, some drivers found a way to bat off the jet lag with Carlos Sainz explaining: “Once comes Friday, Saturday, Sunday, caffeine shots, espressos or adrenaline that is needed to drive an F1 car normally removes the jet lag.”
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