Twenty-six-year-old Leclerc won his fifth pole position of the season and twenty-third overall. He followed up on the performances from the first two training sessions, which he also won. In the penultimate race of the year, he will try to win the first victory of the season and the sixth of his career. The Las Vegas Grand Prix has returned to the Formula 1 World Championship calendar after 41 years.
“Of course I’m happy for the pole position. However, I am a little disappointed with the times in the third part of the qualification. I didn’t do a very good job. However, it was enough for first place, which is what we need. Now we focus on the race. I hope we put everything together and win,” said Leclerc in front of the television cameras.
Three years older, Sainz knew about the loss of ten places already after the end of the first practice session. During it, he damaged the car after the failure of the concrete frame of the channel on the track and had to change the battery. Although the organizers had to end the first training session early due to these difficulties and leave the second session two and a half hours late, the commissioners did not forgive Sainz the penalty.
“The team did a great job fixing the car. Yesterday we were still putting the whole car together and today together they dominated the entire qualification. That’s amazing,” said Sainz. “But I’m still disappointed with the penalty yesterday. I’m not going to lie, I’m not in a good mood all the time. I try not to show it too much, but it’s true,” he added.
This will move Verstappen to second place, who can get his 18th victory of the season in Las Vegas and break his own record. With a possible 53rd triumph in his career, he would also equal the maximum of his predecessor at Red Bull, Sebastian Vettel, in the historical rankings. “So far, we lacked performance for one round, which was also visible in qualifying. But I believe that in the race we will again work well with the tires and work our way forward,” said Verstappen.
To the delight of the home fans, the American Logan Sargeant finished seventh in the top ten. His Williams team-mate Alexander Albon was even one place better.
Sergio Pérez from Red Bull did not make it to the final part of the qualification. The Mexican driver, who can definitely secure second place in the championship ahead of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in Las Vegas, was twelfth. But Hamilton finished just one place ahead of him.
The McLaren pilots already finished in the first part of the qualification. Lando Norris took sixteenth place, Oscar Piastri was three positions lower.
The race will take place on Saturday from 22:00 local time (7:00 CET on Sunday). For the first time since the South African Grand Prix in 1985, an F1 event will not start on a Sunday.
Qualifying for the Las Vegas Grand Prix, a 1:1 Formula One World Championship race. Leclerc (Mon./Ferrari) 1:32.7262. Sainz (Spain/Ferrari) -0.0443. Verstappen (Netherlands/Red Bull) -0.3784. Russell (Brit./Mercedes) -0.3865. Gasly (Fr./Alpine) -0.5136. Albon (Thailand/Williams) -0.597 Note: Sainz will lose ten places on the grid due to a penalty
2023-11-19 03:45:03
#Ferrari #dominated #qualifying #Las #Vegas #Leclerc #start #place
