Carlos Sainz achieved his third career pole position in Formula 1 with an excellent qualifying lap around the Circuit of the Americas to take P1 for Ferrari.
His Scuderia teammate Charles Leclerc was second fastest but will take a grid penalty following power unit changes, meaning the new world champion Max Verstappen will join Carlos on the front row.
After finding himself within 0.1-seconds of pole on four occasions in 2022, Sainz pulled it off to top Formla qualifying for the third time in his career after overcoming Leclerc’s Q3 run one advantage by 0.065s.
Leclerc’s initial best time in the final segment was a one minute, 34.624 seconds that gave him the top spot provisionally ahead of Sainz, with Lewis Hamilton third after a blistering middle sector and Verstappen only fourth.
The two-time world champion tried a unique Q3 strategy of completing an additional slow preparation lap for his final Q3 flier, but he could not top the Ferrari duo after losing time in the slow corners in the final sector and finished 0.092 seconds adrift.
Leclerc, who will drop ten places on the grid for taking extra engine parts at Austin, led the way of the four initial Q3 leaders and he improved the first place benchmark to a one minute, 34.421 seconds, but Sainz, following just behind his teammate topped that with a one minute, 34.356 seconds.
Verstappen’s effort was enough to dislodge Hamilton from third as the Mercedes driver could not better his first Q3 time and Lewis failing to improve opened the door for Sergio Perez to slot in ahead too, which the Red Bull driver did with a personal best set while running a few seconds ahead of the Ferrari pair.
Behind Hamilton came his teammate George Russell, with Lance Stroll seventh despite only completing one run in Q3 – offset from the rest after they had initially completed runs at the start of the final segment and while Verstappen was beginning his extra preparation tour.
Lando Norris took eighth for McLaren, with Alpine’s Fernando Alonso and Valtteri Bottas’s Alfa Romeo rounding out the top ten.
Alonso and Perez will drop five places from where they qualified for also taking additional power unit parts outside the permitted season-long allocation.
In Q2, which Leclerc topped after Sainz had led the way in Q1, Alex Albon led the pack through the final Q2 runs and set a personal best to leap into the top ten before three of his rivals improving late on shuffled him back to P11 and out.
Sebastian Vettel lost his best lap from early in Q2 to understeering off and beyond track limits exiting Turn 9 at the end of the Esses sequence, but he did enough with his final effort to climb to P12, albeit without troubling Q3.
Then came Pierre Gasly, struggling with braking for the second weekend in a row – particularly at the big stops of Turn 1 and Turn 11 – and letting AlphaTauri know his fury.
Zhou Guanyu ended up ahead of Yuki Tsunoda in P14 and P15, but only because both lost their best Q2 laps and were relegated to the back of the runners knocked out in that segment – Zhou, who will lose drop five places on the grid, ahead because his banker effort was better.
Tsunoda slipped beyond track limits at Turn 9, while Zhou’s indiscretion came at Turn 12 and cost him a position in the top ten that gave Norris a late reprieve after he had initially ended up P11 in Q2.
In Q1, Kevin Magnussen was shuffled back to P15 and out by Albon’s late improvement, the Haas driver ending up ahead of McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo, out in Q1 for the third time in the last five races.
Esteban Ocon was a shock faller in P18, finishing only ahead of Mick Schumacher and Nicholas Latifi – who were the only two runners not to set personal bests on their final fliers.
Latifi just failed to match his best from the opening Q1 runs, while Schumacher’s last effort was over when it had barely begun as he spun at Turn 1.
Mick looped his Haas around in a quick 360° spin, the rear coming around to the right as he applied the power down past the apex of the bumpy, up/down hairpin that starts the Austin lap.
So congratulations to Carlos Sainz with pole position. His teammate Charles Leclerc set the initial pace in the first two segments of qualifying, but in the important top ten shootout, it was Carlos who rose to the challenge and take pole. The new 2022 champion Max Verstappen will line up alongside following the grid penalty for Leclerc. The opening lap and drag race to the uphill Turn 1 is going to be exciting. Game on.
United States Grand Prix, qualifying positions:
1 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:34.356
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:34.448
3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:34.947
4 George Russell Mercedes 1:34.988
5 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:35.598
6 Lando Norris McLaren 1:35.690
7 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 1:36.319
8 Sergio Pérez Red Bull 1:34.645
9 Alexander Albon Williams 1:36.368*
10 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin 1:36.398
11 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 1:36.740
12 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:34.421*
13 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTaur 1:37.147
14 Fernando Alonso Alpine 1:35.876
15 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:36.949
16 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren 1:37.046
17 Esteban Ocon Alpine 1:37.068
18 Mick Schumacher Haas 1:37.111
19 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 1:36.970
20 Nicholas Latifi Williams 1:37.244
*Grid penalties for a change of power unit
United States Grand Prix qualifying review as reported by Formula1.com.
Carlos Sainz stormed to pole position in qualifying for the 2022 United States Grand Prix, where grid penalties will see Max Verstappen join him on the front row and the Mercedes start on the second row.
Dietrich Mateschitz’s passing cast a shadow over the paddock ahead of qualifying, with the likes of Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner, Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff, and Formula 1 President and CEO Stefano Domenicali paying tribute to the influential Red Bull energy drinks co-founder.
Red Bull vowed to continue on for qualifying, the team this weekend hoping to secure their first constructors’ championship victory since 2013.
Sainz topped Q1 and Leclerc Q2, leaving Ferrari front-runners when it came to the top-10 shootout. The Monegasque driver set a provisional pole lap early in Q3, but had a10-place grid penalty incoming for engine changes, while Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso would be demoted five places apiece.
Sainz’s second flying lap however saw him eclipse his team mate with a time of 1m 34.356s, taking Ferrari’s first pole in Austin, with Leclerc 0.065s off in P2 before his penalty kicked in. Max Verstappen finished third in qualifying but will start on the front row, while Perez finished fourth before his penalty.
Lewis Hamilton rounded out the top five but is set for a second row start, while team mate George Russell is set to join him, having qualified sixth.
Also shuffling forward will be P7 qualifier Lance Stroll, ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris. Alonso will drop five places after qualifying ninth on the grid, which will further promote 10th-place qualifier Valtteri Bottas.
Alex Albon qualified 11th for Williams ahead of Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel, while Pierre Gasly was frustrated with a lack of braking performance as he locked up on the way to P13. Zhou Guanyu seemed safe for Q3 but had his final lap deleted and qualified 14th – which will become 19th once his five-place penalty kicks in. Yuki Tsunoda qualified 15th but is set to be promoted at Zhou’s expense.
Also to be promoted a place will be Kevin Magnussen, who lost out on a spot in Q2 by 0.018s, while Daniel Ricciardo and Esteban Ocon struggled to P17 and P18, respectively. Mick Schumacher spun on his final Q1 lap and qualified 19th, while Nicholas Latifi qualified last and is set to start 20th for Williams.
Q1 – Ferrari on top while Ricciardo and Ocon bow out early
Leclerc set the early pace in Q1 with a 1m 35.795s, putting Verstappen – who encountered a Haas on the racing line on his flying lap – second by 0.069s. Once Sainz came round to finish his flying lap, the Spaniard found half a second and jumped both his team mate and the reigning champion by setting the benchmark of 1m 35.297s.
In the drop zone with three and a half minutes remaining was Albon – who is provisionally set to have Logan Sargeant as his Williams team mate in 2023 – Ricciardo, Magnussen, Tsunoda, and Zhou, who was bumped down to P20 having had his flyer deleted.
The Ferraris and Red Bulls stayed in their garages while the rest of the field scrambled to improve on their existing benchmarks.
Hamilton had his final time deleted but stayed fourth overall ahead of Red Bull’s Perez, with Russell staying sixth in the other Mercedes. Alonso was next on the board in P7 ahead of an improving Norris, who finished ahead of AlphaTauri’s Gasly. Zhou also improved, rounding out the top 10 for Alfa Romeo.
Vettel was up next in P11, ahead of Alfa Romeo driver Bottas, with Tsunoda improving to P13 ahead of Stroll and, making it to Q2, Williams’s Albon.
Magnussen implored his team to look at possible track limits infringements for rivals, as he missed out on the next session by 0.017s. Ricciardo was unable to progress in P17 and Ocon was a shock elimination in P18. Schumacher spun and aborted his flying lap, and while Latifi improved, he was out in P20.
Knocked out: Magnussen, Ricciardo, Ocon, Schumacher, Latifi
Q2 – Leclerc leads Verstappen as Norris handed lifeline
Opening salvos saw Leclerc set the fastest time of 1m 35.246s, Verstappen just 0.048s off in P2 while Q1 leader Sainz was 0.344s off the pace in P3, leaving Russell fourth and Hamilton sixth – with Perez splitting the Mercedes in P5.
Gasly and Vettel were 14th and 15th with three minutes left, the former driver having aborted his first effort after a lock-up and the latter having had his time deleted for track limits. Joining them in the provisional drop zone was 11th-placed Albon, 12th-placed Tsunoda and 13th-placed Stroll, with Norris on the bubble in P10.
The Ferraris, Red Bulls and Russell remained in their garages, but Hamilton emerged (albeit on used soft compounds) for a second run along with the rest of the field. The top three remained the same but Hamilton improved to P5 to drop Perez to sixth. Alonso improved but took P7 in Q2, ahead of Stroll and Bottas.
As for Norris, he couldn’t improve but was bumped back into P10 when Zhou’s final lap was deleted. The Alfa Romeo driver qualified 14th but will be demoted five places thanks to an engine penalty. Tsunoda qualified 15th in Q2, but will start 14th.
Albon missed out on Q3 in P11, but out-qualified Aston Martin’s Vettel and a furious Gasly in P13, the AlphaTauri driver struggling with his brakes throughout qualifying.
Knocked out: Albon, Vettel, Gasly, Zhou, Tsunoda
Q3 – Sainz takes pole ahead of Leclerc before grid penalties kick in
On used softs, Verstappen set the time to beat with a 1m 35.044s but Leclerc – facing a 10-place grid penalty for an engine change – took that challenge and set the sectors purple for a time of 1m 34.624s, Sainz going 0.159s off his team mate in P2.
Hamilton then eclipsed the Red Bulls by putting his Mercedes third on the timesheets and 0.323s off the pace, leaving Verstappen fourth and Perez fifth. Russell jumped to sixth after a couple of warm-up laps, Stroll taking a provisional seventh with a later effort, Alonso eighth, Norris ninth and Bottas 10th. Perez and Alonso were however set to be demoted five places apiece thanks to their respective grid penalties.
With the sun glowing at the cusp of the horizon, it was Sainz who secured Ferrari’s first pole position at the Circuit of The Americas, with team mate Leclerc second by 0.065s. Verstappen improved after two warm-up laps but qualified 0.092s off the pace in P3, which is set to become P2 on the grid when Leclerc drops down.
Perez managed fourth, 0.289s off the pace, but anticipating a five-place grid penalty that would promote fifth-place qualifier Hamilton and sixth-place Russell to the second row.
Stroll remained seventh after his stunning effort in the middle of Q3, which would, on Sunday, amount to Aston Martin’s best start of the season. Norris ended up eighth (before penalties) ahead of penalised driver Alonso in P9, and the Alfa Romeo of Bottas in P10.
After the session, Verstappen led Leclerc and Sainz in paying respects to late Red Bull co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz, who on Saturday passed away at the age of 78.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz commented that thi first dry Formula 1 pole in US GP qualifying was ‘a long time coming’. Motorsport.com provides the details.
Carlos Sainz says his first dry pole position in Formula 1 felt like “a long time coming” after topping qualifying for the United States Grand Prix on Saturday.
Sainz edged out Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc by just 0.065 seconds during their final runs in Q3 to claim his third F1 career pole.
Sainz’s maiden pole came at Silverstone in wet conditions, while he inherited first on the grid for the Belgian Grand Prix in August due to grid penalties.
The Spaniard recently vented his frustration over the fine margins he often lost out on pole by at races this year, making his result at the Circuit of The Americas on Saturday a welcome one.
Sainz said his pole lap was “a lot of fun” but “very tricky out there with the winds that we have today” which made “every corner is a bit of an adventure with these cars.”
“But I managed to put together a good lap without mistakes, and pole position, it was a long time coming after a few qualis in the dry getting very close to it, but not quite getting there.”
Asked by Motorsport.com what had been the key to turning his fortunes on a Saturday around, Sainz replied: “I keep my head down, trust that one day it was going to come, keep trying different things in free practice, get the car a bit more to my liking and try different things on driving style and set-up.
“Some weekends I get it wrong, other weekends I get it right. I think keeping faith and keeping trust that it was going to come was the key.”
Ferrari has not won a race since the Austrian Grand Prix in early July, having struggled with tyre degradation over the long runs through the second half of the season.
In the same period, Red Bull has taken steps forward, allowing Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez to contribute to a seven-race win streak.
“I’m not going to lie, I think for tomorrow, Red Bull are still favourites,” said Sainz.
“I think they normally have the better race pace, they normally get us in the race, because Max does a great job, or Red Bull has a very good car in race trim.
“But we’re going to do everything we can to try and stay ahead tomorrow and win the race, which would be an amazing way to start these last four races.”
Newly crowned world champion Max Verstappen admitted that the death of Dietrich Mateschitz news made for “tough entry” to US GP Formula 1 qualifying. Motorsport.com has the news story.
Max Verstappen said news that Dietrich Mateschitz had died made for a “tough entry” to Formula 1 qualifying in Austin before paying a heartfelt tribute to the Red Bull founder.
Shortly before the start of qualifying for the United States Grand Prix on Saturday, news emerged that Mateschitz had passed away at the age of 78 following a long battle with illness.
Mateschitz led the Red Bull brand into F1 as a sponsor before going on to acquire two teams, as well as playing an instrumental role in the development of many young drivers including Verstappen.
Red Bull opted to give Verstappen a race seat at the age of just 17 in 2015, paving the way for him to becoming the series’ youngest winner and a two-time world champion.
Verstappen qualified third on Saturday at the Circuit of The Americas, finishing 0.092 seconds behind pole-sitter Carlos Sainz of Ferrari.
Verstappen said the news made for “a tough entry to qualifying” for everyone at Red Bull and that the result “doesn’t matter” in the context.
“We’re more about what happened today, and also what he has meant to everyone within the team, and what he has built up in Formula 1, the company itself Red Bull, and personally to me,” said Verstappen.
“Because without him, I wouldn’t be sitting here today, and I wouldn’t have had the success I’ve had. It’s incredibly tough for everyone in the team.
“Luckily, I got to see him a couple of weeks back, so we could spend a little bit of time together. It’s still a tough day.”
Verstappen said after jumping out of the car at COTA that Red Bull was “going to try and make him proud tomorrow”. The team will clinch its fifth F1 constructors’ title on Sunday so long as it is not outscored by Ferrari by more than 19 points.
Discussing his session, Verstappen said he found the lap “very tricky” given the windy conditions through the first sector, as well as struggling to get his tyres in the right temperature window.
“We tried a few different things,” said Verstappen. “I think at the end of the day, we were competitive on both strategies what we tried, and just in my first lap in Q3, I lost like three tenths in the first corner, just hitting a few bumps and losing the rear
“It was just really tricky out there. And then the second run was good in sector one, sector two we looked very strong, and then I ran out of tyres a little bit in the last sector with big oversteer in the second to last corner.
“But all in all, we were still very close to pole. At the last race it was the other way around, I was on pole but it was all fine margins. Now when you don’t get it entirely together, you are P3, but at the same distance between the three cars.
“I think still, it’s a good result. We know that we have a quick race car. I think anyway tomorrow, we should be strong.”
Verstappen will move up to second place on the grid as a result of Charles Leclerc’s penalty. Sainz said he thought Verstappen remained the favourite for the race given Red Bull’s recent strength on the long runs, and that he was “realistic” about his chances of converting pole into the win.
“It doesn’t matter if you are favourite or not,” said Verstappen. “I’m just going to have fun out there.”
Lewis Hamilton believes that a temperature drop between final practice and qualifying contributed to Mercedes’ lap times falling away from pace-setters Red Bull and Ferrari.
After showing early promise, Hamilton and Mercedes ended up as the ‘best of the rest’ during the grid-deciding session, almost six-tenths off pole-sitter Carlos Sainz, the other Ferrari of Charles Leclerc and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
Hamilton will, however, be promoted to third on the grid, with team mate George Russell joining him on the second row, following the application of engine-related penalties for Leclerc and Sergio Perez.
Reflecting on the gap to the front, Hamilton said: “I thought we were closer, if I’m really honest. My laps weren’t great; I really struggled with the car in this session. I think with the temperature drop, [the track] in P3 was around 30 to 40 degrees, then it was like six degrees, seven degrees cooler [in qualifying] – it really changed the set-up of the car – it was a real handful.
“I’m praying it’s going to be better tomorrow. I’m really just hopeful that… If we can hold onto the guys [ahead], at least keep them in [viewing] distance, that would be awesome, because then strategy can come into play. But I think they’re too quick.”
Russell referenced the upgrades Mercedes brought to the Circuit of The Americas and expressed hope that the team will put up a stronger performance on race day – pointing to several “unknowns” after part of Friday practice was set aside for 2023 tyre testing.
Asked if Mercedes’ qualifying session was representative, Russell said: “I’m not too sure, to be honest. We obviously brought a couple of updates. I guess we all hoped for a little bit more, but when you take the season as an average, we probably qualified better than average.
“When you look at our gap to the midfield, as a percentage, the gap ahead to the gap behind, we’re probably the furthest away we’ve been from them since Zandvoort or Budapest. [So there are] some positives to take away from it, but we know Sunday is where it’s at, and I think there’s a real opportunity.
“It’s sort of rare that as a driver you go into the weekend more excited about the race than qualifying, because qualifying is where the car is alive and you’re going [at your] fastest, but [I’m] definitely really excited, because I think there’s going to be a lot of opportunities, lots of pit stops and a lot of unknowns – that’s good news for us.”
Source: Formula1.com