By pure statistics, another race is approaching that Charles Leclerc is not going to win. The Monegasque marked a new pole, which by no means implies that he will take the victory because, as he has shown on other occasions, starting first does not help him to arrive first.
And even less if it has a Max Verstappen who cries out for revenge. After a qualifying in which he was unable to keep up with the Ferraris, who were very strong throughout the weekend. The penalty that Sainz has been carrying since Friday weighs him down, and despite a 2nd with a very good taste of little (and that could have been even better), he will have to start in a 12th that he knows little about. Fernando Alonso will start ninth, with two ‘morlacos’ like Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Pérez behind. The departure will be more than exciting.
Q1: Ferraris set the standard
The progressive improvement in the grip and temperature conditions of the tires from the beginning made it a problem and a challenge for everyone to achieve a cut-off time for the next round. But still, as had already been seen on Friday in the grotesque free practice sessions and on Saturday morning, the Ferraris looked strong from the start. Especially Charles Leclerc who was confirmed as the first reference of the day, with Carlos Sainz behind.
Despite it being an urban circuit, many drivers saw how they had a lap taken away for going too far in one of the only areas where the track limits were exceeded in turn 8. The tension in the last moments led to several almost having an accident, as happened between Verstappen and Ocon, with shouts over the radio included and niceties like “what a fool!” from the three-time champion to the Frenchman.
With Fernando Alonso 10th and Stroll 11th, far from the initial performance expected for Aston Martin, the big surprise was the disaster of the McLarens, both eliminated. Lando Norris, Esteban Ocon, Guanyu Zhou, Oscar Piastri and Yuki Tsunoda were the first eliminated in a classification from this Las Vegas circuit.
Q2: Hamilton and Pérez disaster
They already made it clear in the free practice sessions prior to qualifying that they could be competitive, and both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell showed that they could be fighting for the top zone, but they ran into some Ferraris that were too strong. Leclerc repeated as the fastest of the session, with Sainz behind but half a second behind, and the drivers of the black cars began to see the seams. In fact, the seven-time champion was one of the newsworthy drivers and not exactly for the better.
Poor management when putting on the optimal tires, or overconfidence, caused two of the ‘big three’ (at least one), to be left out of the final Q3. Lewis Hamilton (for the first time in eight Grand Prix) and Sergio Pérez were left out, by less than half a tenth in both cases, along with Hulkenberg, Stroll and Ricciardo. Above, Fernando Alonso passed 7th, comfortable and with options for a good result.
Q3: Pole for Leclerc
It was not a mirage. The Ferraris had already been the great benchmark of the weekend before qualifying, and in the first attempt it was clear that they were going to be the big favorites. In the first attempt, just barely, Leclerc and Sainz overtook Verstappen who had a harder time demonstrating his strength than in other sessions, but with the change of new tires for the last attempt everything restarted.
And yet nothing changed. Leclerc was immense and no one could improve him, not even Sainz who fell short by very little. His 2nd, which will be 12th on the grid, confirms him as one of the drivers with the most pace. He will have a very difficult time because of that sanction, and because he has three ‘bugs’ ahead of him: Pérez, Hamilton and Fernando Alonso who failed in the last attempt of Q3 and did not manage to get past 10th time.
2023-11-18 09:15:18
#Leclerc #favor #big #day
