formula One
- Carlos Sainz will start twelfth after a penalty of ten starting positions
- Lewis Hamilton retired in the second qualifying and started from tenth place on the grid
Charles Leclerc took pole position at the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix and put in an excellent lap on the streets of the circuit that winds through the heart of the city. He relegated his Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz to second place, but the Spaniard faces a penalty of ten places on the grid as he had to fit a new battery after sustaining damage on Thursday when his car was hit by a drain cover became. World champion Max Verstappen came third for Red Bull.
Lewis Hamilton had a disappointing run, retiring in second qualifying in tenth place, while his teammate George Russell finished fourth for Mercedes. Pierre Gasly was fifth for Alpine.
With track development crucial on a street circuit over the course of the session, times dropped as the clock counted down, leading to a final lap shootout. Leclerc had set the pace with his first hot lap, with a run of 1 minute and 33.021 seconds, two hundredths ahead of Sainz, while Verstappen was third. The Monegasque driver was obviously very confident. He was one of the first to start his final lap and although he lagged behind in the first third, his middle sector was huge, enough to secure pole with a time of 1:32.726.
Cars drive down the Vegas Strip. Photo: Jared C Tilton/Formula 1/Getty Images
Sainz came close, four hundredths behind. Verstappen, who hadn’t been at the front all weekend on a track that he made it clear he didn’t like, couldn’t react and ended up a full three tenths behind him.
Leclerc was the third driver to take pole in Las Vegas. The city hosted two meetings such as the Caesars Palace Grand Prix in 1981 and 1982. Carlos Reutemann took pole in 1981, Alain Prost in 1982.
Max Verstappen doubles down on his criticism of the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Las Vegas
For Leclerc it was the fifth pole of the season. He took pole position in Baku and inherited the top spot at Spa when Verstappen received a grid penalty. He was fastest again in the USA and Mexico, but was unable to convert either of them into a win. He will be hoping for another strong performance, but while Ferrari showed promise over a single lap, Red Bull should once again be quicker at race pace.
It is his 23rd career pole, a good record but undermined by the low conversion rate of five wins, a sign of Ferrari’s consistent failure to deliver a suitably competitive race car in recent years .
Hamilton seemed unable to get more out of his car, telling his team he simply “couldn’t go any faster”.
Before training began, Formula 1’s handling of the fallout from the debacle of Thursday’s practice sessions had not been well received. Fans present at practice were able to watch the cars on the track for eight minutes. The first session was abandoned within five laps after Sainz’s Ferrari was badly hit by a water valve cover. This ended practice as the FIA had to check the other 30 covers on the strip and confirm their integrity.
This resulted in a five-hour delay before FP2 could begin at 2:30am. However, an hour earlier, fans were asked to leave the race as Formula One, which promotes and organizes the race, faced contractual and transport problems keeping its staff at the circuit. Hugely disappointed fans, many of whom had paid huge sums, were forced to leave while the second session took place behind closed doors.
Fans in the stands wait for qualifying. Photo: Mike Blake/Portal
On Friday morning, Formula One boss Stefano Domenicali and Las Vegas GP CEO Renee Wilm attempted to explain the circumstances behind their decision to ask fans to leave, citing mainly safety reasons.
“We have all been to events such as concerts, games and even other Formula 1 races that were canceled due to factors such as weather or technical problems,” they said. “It’s happening and we hope people understand.”
What was noticeable was that there was no apology in the 650 words. This is believed to be for legal reasons, to avoid exposing the organization to lawsuits if it has made an admission of guilt. It was heavily criticized as a further insult to those who had been prevented from seeing almost all of the action on the circuit.
No compensation was offered to fans with three-day tickets, but Thursday-only ticket holders were promised a $200 voucher to redeem at the official Las Vegas GP store. Many fans didn’t believe this was enough compensation, especially since it was online only and didn’t include shipping costs.
When racing resumed, Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant finished an impressive sixth and seventh for Williams, Valtteri Bottas for Alfa Romeo was eighth, Kevin Magnussen for Haas was ninth and Fernando Alonso for Aston Martin was tenth.
Sergio Pérez finished 11th for Red Bull as the team misjudged its runs in the second quarter. Nico Hulkenberg was 13th or Haas and Lance Stroll was 14th for Aston Martin, but is given a five-place grid penalty for overtaking under a yellow flag in practice. Daniel Ricciardo moved up to 14th for AlphaTauri.
The two McLaren drivers had a poor run, Lando Norris was 15th and Oscar Piastri 18th. Esteban Ocon finished 16th for Alpine. Guanyu Zhou was 17th for Alfa Romeo and Yuki Tsunoda 20th for AlphaTauri.
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