SAINZ GRABS POLE IN TEXAS HEAT

US Grand Prix Qualifying Recap

The hot and windy Circuit of The Americas played host to an exciting Qualifying session, rewarding Carlos Sainz with the second Formula 1 pole position of his career, AUTO ACTION’s Reese Mautone reports…

Qualifying 1:
– Zhou Guanyu set one of the first timed laps of the session, however, along with Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez (Internal Combustion Unit), the Alfa Romeo driver will be taking a 5-place grid penalty.
– Charles Leclerc set an early-on dominant lap, taking purple Sectors 1 and 3 to go 0.069 seconds ahead of Max Verstappen. The Ferrari driver will, however, be taking a 10-place grid penalty for a new Turbo and ICE.
– Verstappen’s second-lap attempt was impacted by a slow-moving Haas on the racing line.
– On his second flying lap, Carlos Sainz went a step above everyone. The Spaniard set a 1:35.297, nearly half a second ahead of his teammate.
– Both Ferrari and Red Bull drivers returned to their respective garages, having set times secure enough to see them through to Q2.
– The Mclaren mirrored its FP3 performance, lacking pace which saw Daniel Ricciardo make an error at Turn 7, knocking him out in Q1 as he missed the cut-off time by 0.144 seconds.
– A Turn 1 pirouette cost Mick Schumacher a last attempt at making it through to Q2, while his teammate also failed to make it through in P16.
– After a strong weekend thus far, Esteban Ocon qualified in P18, as Alonso thrived in P7.

Knocked out:
16. Kevin Magnussen
17. Daniel Ricciardo
18. Esteban Ocon
19. Mick Schumacher
20. Nicholas Latifi

Qualifying 2
– Alex Albon’s Williams was the first car on track, followed by both Alpha Tauris.
– Pierre Gasly ran wide at Turn 1 when his brakes failed to “wake up”, ending his first lap attempt. Having only one opportunity to set a time, the Frenchman put his Alpha Tauri to work, however, failing to qualify in the top 10.
– Leclerc secured P1, just 0.048 seconds ahead of Verstappen, while Sainz sat in P3, 0.344 seconds off his teammate’s fastest pace.
– Once again, the Ferraris and Red Bulls retreated to the pits with times confidently seeing them through to the top 10 shoot-out.
– After Mercedes looked to be ‘best of the rest’, ending Q2 with Lewis Hamilton in P5 and George Russell in P4.
– Sebastian Vettel, whose weekend has been a pleasant surprise, had his opening lap time deleted for exceeding track limits. Calling upon his experience at COTA, Vettel managed a time temporarily good enough for the top 10, before he was later relegated to P13.
– On his first outing in Texas, Zhou momentarily made it through to Q3, knocking out Lando Norris, however, his lap time was later deleted and Norris returned to P10.

Knocked out:
11. Alex Albon
12. Sebastian Vettel
13. Pierre Gasly
14. Zhou Guanyu
15. Yuki Tsunoda

Qualifying 3:
– All cars emerged from their garages as the lights turned green, led by George Russell who chose to run an additional preparation lap.
– Verstappen claimed provisional pole with two purple sectors before Leclerc stormed across the line nearly half a second faster. The Ferrari driver was then joined by his Spanish teammate on the provisional front row.
– Lewis Hamilton got his W13 into P3, ahead of Max Verstappen, and on what would be a front-row start given Leclerc’s grid penalty.
– With four minutes to go in Q3, Verstappen returned to the track to undertake a double preparation lap.
– Leclerc began his final flying lap with less than a minute to go, leading his teammate through the lap.
– The Monegasque driver set the faster Sector 1, while Sainz and Verstappen made improvements on their times. Verstappen set the fastest Sector 2, however it was no match for Carlos Sainz flying in his Ferrari.
– Sainz claimed the second pole position of his career around COTA with a lap time of 1:34.356, starting the US Grand Prix alongside Max Verstappen, as Leclerc looks to be relegated to P12.

Final top 10:
1. Carlos Sainz (1:34.356)
2. Charles Leclerc
3. Max Verstappen
4. Sergio Perez
5. Lewis Hamilton
6. George Russell
7. Lance Stroll
8. Lando Norris
9. Fernando Alonso
10. Valtteri Botta

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