United States Grand Prix – Qualifications: Charles Leclerc regains pole position

The qualifications for the Austin Grand Prix took place under a real heatwave as it was over 35°C at the time planned for 16 hours, local time!

Q1

The first surprise of this Q1 came from Nico Hülkenberg, then from Pierre Gasly, who beat Max Verstappen’s record at the end of the first attempt. This forced the Dutchman to reappear from the pits for a second stint as he was then fifth, behind the two Ferraris, the Alpine and the Haas, and Red Bull’s estimations potentially placed him around the 15th final rank. However, he quickly ended the suspense by significantly improving.

Logan Sargeant was eliminated, after returning to the pits before completing his first attempt. The local at the time was only able to rejoin the track three minutes before the end of the session for a single lap. Under such conditions, he could not work miracles and ended up last.

But the big disappointment came from Aston Martin, already hampered by reliability issues in free practice. Indeed, Fernando Alonso did no better than 17th and Lance Stroll 19th. This puts the team at a clear disadvantage in its fight with McLaren for fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship. This is the first time of the season that Fernando Alonso does not qualify in Q3 while it is the fifth consecutive Q1 elimination for Lance Stroll.

The good start to the session was not confirmed for Nico Hülkenberg as he finished in 16th place due to the cancellation of his last lap due to non-compliance with the track limits while Kevin Magnussen was able to slip into seventh place in this session.

Those eliminated in Q1: Hülkenberg, Alonso, Albon, Stroll and Sargeant

Q2

Once again, Lando Norris stood out for not respecting the track, which resulted in the cancellation of his first attempt. Carlos Sainz’s attempt was heavily compromised by Yuki Tsunoda, who did not move aside on turn 15 of the circuit.

On the second attempt, the British McLaren driver was able to refine his lap and easily slip into the top 10 (6th). As for Sergio Perez, he managed to save himself by only 18 thousandths compared to Yuki Tsunoda’s AlphaTauri. Not enough to satisfy Red Bull’s leaders…

It can be noted that Charles Leclerc had signed the best time, four thousandths ahead of Max Verstappen.

The ones eliminated from Q2: Tsunoda, Zhou, Bottas, Magnussen and Ricciardo

Q3

During the first assault, it was Charles Leclerc, who had signed the best time, with a 56 millisecond lead over Lewis Hamilton. Max Verstappen was only third but the Dutchman was annoyed at being somewhat hindered by… his teammate in the last turn!

Shock during the second assault: if Charles Leclerc had improved, Max Verstappen had beaten him by only five thousandths. But a few seconds later the verdict fell: cancellation of the triple world champion’s lap for not respecting track limits. He thus found himself sixth on the grid.

The first line is thus occupied by Charles Leclerc, just in front of Lando Norris. This one has therefore contradicted his displayed pessimism at the beginning of the weekend. It’s the 21st pole position for the Ferrari driver and the first since Spa-Francorchamps. He will be eager to convert it while victory has eluded him since Austria last year.

Alpine has made good progress since both drivers are comfortably in the top 10, with Pierre Gasly (7th) and Esteban Ocon (8th). They both overtake Sergio Perez, who is once again disappointing, while Oscar Piastri is far behind his teammate.

From our special correspondent in Austin

The result of the qualifiers for the USA Grand Prix 2023 of F1