F1 Qualifying Report: Carlos Sainz clinches pole position in Austin
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Carlos Sainz will start the United States GP on Pole Position (IMAGO / PanoramiC)
The United States Grand Prix is one of the most looked-forward-to events on the calendar, with hundreds of thousands of fans and various celebrities coming to witness this spectacle. The track has often been host to exciting races, such as just last year. In this year’s race, it is Carlos Sainz who will start from P1 on the grid.
The Spaniard achieved pole by +0.065 over his teammate, Charles Leclerc, and will be starting ahead of Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. Leclerc (P12) and Sergio Perez (P8) will take grid penalties for tomorrow. After a nail-biting end to qualifying, Ferrari seem to have a one-lap advantage over their arch-rivals Redbull, with the two red cars finishing on top.
The qualifying session took place in the shadow of the death of Red Bull co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz, who passed away at the age of 78. Not only Red Bull but the whole Formula one paddock expressed their condolences to the person behind Red Bull’s success on as well as off track.
What happened in Q1?
Sainz topped the charts in Q1 with a 1:35.297, with Leclerc being almost 5-tenths behind his teammate with a 1:35.795 in second place. Max Verstappen (1:35.864) and Lewis Hamilton (1:36.148) finished the session 3rd and 4th respectively.
The 5 drivers failing to progress onto the next stage were: Kevin Magnussen (P15), Daniel Ricciardo, Esteban Ocon, Mick Schumacher and Nicholas Latifi (in P20) It was the third consecutive Q1 elimination for Ricciardo as the Aussie’s struggles continue. Ocon meanwhile had his worst qualifying result at the Circuit of the Americas since 2016.
Also Read: United States GP: What is the track length, number of laps and temperature for the Formula 1 race in Austin?
What happened in Q2?
The next session concluded with Leclerc being the quickest (1:35.246). Matched closely by the two-time world champion Verstappen (1:35.294), with Sainz some three and a half tenths behind (1:35.590) and Russell (1:35.692) rounding up the top four places.
The 5 drivers eliminated at the end of Q2 were: Alexander Albon, Sebastian Vettel, Pierre Gasly, Zhou Guanyu, and Yuki Tsunoda. Zhou had an impressive run in the session almost getting into Q3 but was unsuccessful due to his lap time being deleted because of a track limits violation. Lance Stroll had a brilliant run to get into Q3, his first at COTA.
What happened in Q3?
After the initial runs of the session, Leclerc had set the bar at 1:34.624, 5 minutes into the session, followed by Verstappen and Sainz. However, it was Sainz who took pole after the chequered flag with a 1:34.356, just edging out his teammate who did a 1:34.421. Verstappen ended the session with a laptime of 1:34.448.
This pole is the first-ever pole position for Ferrari at the Circuit of the Americas. This will give Sainz a slight advantage, but the start is going to be a close thing. Even if he holds on over Verstappen, Red Bull look likely to seal the title herein itself. Alfa Romeo certainly have decent pace and could be looking at a potential double-points finish. This race will be crucial for the McLaren-Alpine P4 fight, with Norris the only one of the four drivers that is starting in the points.
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