Ferrari’s North American form continues! Leclerc dominated qualifying on the night streets of Las Vegas

Unusually, on the night of Friday to Saturday, qualifying for the Grand Prix took place on the streets of Las Vegas. For the fifth time this season, Charles Leclerc was fastest in the battle for pole position. The Monegasque just edged out teammate Carlos Sainz, who will not enjoy a front row start due to a component change. Max Verstappen will take his place at the start.

Formula One has returned to the American gambling capital after 41 years. That’s when F1 cars circled the Caesars Palace car park. Now, however, the Vegas circuit travels through much of downtown, including the 1.9-kilometre straight on the Las Vegas Strip.

But the long-awaited race weekend didn’t get off to a bright start. The first practice session had to be abandoned after a few minutes, while the second session was postponed until the latest possible date due to track repairs. The pilots were able to enjoy an extended 90-minute practice session from 2:30 to 4:00.

Relatively low temperatures prevailed at the Nevada circuit, which is already demanding for tyre warm-up due to its long straights. With track temperatures hovering around 17°C, many drivers used their tyres for multiple attempts in Q1 and Q2, with the McLarens, for example, completing nine laps on one compound in Q1.

The first part of qualifying

Right from the start, the Ferrari drivers showed great speed. However, a weekend that looks promising so far for the Italian stable was spoiled for Carlos Sainz in the first practice session when he drove over a loose channel cover. The stable had to build him almost a whole new car, and he also incurred a 10-place grid penalty for exceeding the power unit component limit.

Lance Stroll was in the crosshairs of the sports commissioners. The Canadian had already earned one five-place penalty for overtaking under double yellow flags in free practice three, and was investigated after qualifying for failing to slow under yellow flags.

Long straights favoured Williams, with both drivers from the British stable making it through to the second qualifying session. Williams swapped roles with McLaren, who is struggling badly in Vegas. Lando Norris was only 16th fastest, Oscar Piastri as fast as 19th.

Esteban Ocon also dropped out of the first qualifying session after getting involved in a duel with Verstappen at the first corner. Along with him, Zhou and Cunoda said goodbye to qualifying early.

The second part of qualifying

The gates of the third qualifying session left both drivers fighting for second place in the Drivers’ Cup. Lewis Hamilton will take the start in 11th place, Pérez in 12th.

Three tenths slower than his teammate was Nico Hülkenberg, whose time was only good enough for 13th place. Stroll was even further behind his teammate, 6 tenths behind Alonso. Ricciardo finished last in the second qualifying session.

The third part of qualifying

The first blow in the battle for pole position was dealt to Verstappen by Ferrari. The Dutch driver lost less than a tenth on the first lap to the first Leclerc, Sainz was also faster.

In addition, Verstappen’s last attempt was not at all successful, and he eventually dropped it after two sectors. The front row was thus occupied by the Italian team’s monoposts, but Sainz was pushed back at the start by the previously mentioned penalty.

Russell set the fourth fastest time, with Pierre Gasly joining him on the second row. The third row will belong to Williams, although Logan Sargeant was again unable to beat Albon in qualifying, but he can still take the seventh fastest time as a success.

Tenth place was just four hundredths of a second away from seventh. Valtteri Bottas finished just behind Sargeant, Kevin Magnussen took ninth place, Alonso failed to improve on his second attempt and had to settle for tenth.

Source: F1TV