Las Vegas GP Qualifying: Leclerc and Ferrari on pole with some margin!

(Cover picture: Scuderia Ferrari - X)

Immediately after Friday's free practice we said it: Charles Leclerc had all it takes to aim for pole position. And so it was, despite a performance in Q3 that didn't convince the Monegasque driver himself... But as we know, what matters is the final result! Speaking of results, before starting with our analysis, here's the complete classification at the end of these qualifications:

For Leclerc a pole position built in the middle sector

Looking at the split times, what catches the eye is Leclerc's time in S2 (the only section with some corners between the long straights that dot this track): just in that section, Charles was capable of inflicting more than 1 tenth on his closest pursuer, which is also Carlos Sainz's other Ferrari. In that sector the first non-Ferrari driver, obviously Verstappen, is 2 tenths away, while the gaps of the others are dangerously close to half a second...

For a better understanding of the split times (limited to the drivers who finished in the top 10), let's see the table below: as a reference, in bold you can find each absolute best sector.

Driver Laptime S1 S2 S3 Gap
Leclerc 1'32"726 26"224 30"652 35"850 -
Sainz 1'32"770 26"157 30"772 35"841 0"044
Verstappen 1'33"104 26"289 30"828 35"987 0"378
Russell 1'33"112 26"364 30"990 35"758 0"386
Gasly 1'33"239 26"415 31"019 35"805 0"513
Albon 1'33"323 26"576 31"008 35"739 0"597
Sargeant 1'33"513 26"605 31"106 35"802 0"787
Bottas 1'33"525 26"393 31"214 35"918 0"799
Magnussen 1'33"537 26"335 30"966 36"236 0"811
Alonso 1'33"555 26"490 31"113 35"952 0"829

The presence of so many long straights tends to flatten the performance differences of the various single-seaters, so the fact that Ferrari's margin over the others was close to 4 tenths can be seen as an excellent sign also in view of tomorrow's race, in which a good straight-line speed could be enough for Leclerc to defend his position from Verstappen's attacks. Provided, of course, that he maintains first place at the race start!

Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

"Obviously I'm happy for the pole position in this first time in Las Vegas. It's an incredible event, and starting from pole will be great. However, I'm a little disappointed with the laps I did in Q3, even if they were enough for P1... Now let's try to put everything together in the race and we will have to focus, because that's what we usually lack in the race in certain situations, so I hope we can put everything together to win"

Charles Leclerc

Unfortunately, behind Leclerc we won't find the other Red car of Carlos Sainz, who - as anticipated yesterday - will incur a 10-place penalty on the starting grid. I say "unfortunately" because as an enthusiast I would like to see a Formula 1 that is more led by common sense: the reason of the Power Unit's various elements replacement on the Spaniard's SF-23 was clearly due to a mistake (let's call it like that...) of the organizers in sealing the drain covers present on the track. The task of supervising the organizers' work, however, is precisely upon FIA itself, which obtusely decided to impose the penalty, while recognizing the mitigating factor of force majeure...

Francois Tremblay / Motorsport Images

"First of all it was an exceptional job by the whole team, we dominated qualifying after a difficult day like yesterday, and we managed to put the car back together to lock the front row, incredible! I certainly would have liked to be first, but I would have started 11th instead of 12th [...] I don't wanna lie, I'm in a terrible mood because of what happened: I try not to show it, but this is the situation... Tomorrow will depend on the start, the graining and how much it will be easy to overtake"

Carlos Sainz

In front row, therefore, we will find Max Verstappen's Red Bull, not on his usual shape today but still able to maximize the result, especially against Sergio Perez (P12, promoted to P11 with the penalty of Sainz), again out of Q3. The World Champion will start with the clear intention of trying to win the race, in an attempt to extend a winning streak never seen before in Formula 1 (15 race wins in the last 16 races held!); but, as mentioned, getting the better of Leclerc shouldn't be a simple task at all, especially because the nature of this track means that the many straights can guarantee an immediate counter-attack - with DRS, of course - in the event of losing a position.

Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

In such a situation, the top speed that your car is capable of obtain with closed DRS becomes relevant: already yesterday we saw that Ferrari had an advantage of 7 km/h on Red Bull, but today - following a small setup tweak on the RB19 of Verstappen alone - the delta decreased to 3 km/h, certainly a more manageable speed difference. The real weapon in which Max will have to hope, however, is tyre management: this year the SF-23 has usually proven to be quite harsh on the tyres, although it would be ungenerous to deny the progress made in the last 2-3 months. Even so, the Maranello team's car remains more demanding on the Pirellis than the Red Bull, which will hope for an attacking race to bring out this critical issue in the racecar available to its opponents.

"It's very cold and the track is slippery, and being a street circuit you try to get as close as possible to the barriers, so it's not always easy. I think we made the most of our potential throughout the weekend, we missed it a bit the pace on the flying lap, and this also appeared clear in qualifying, but I hope in tomorrow's race. There will be a long straight and there will be overtaking opportunities, then we hope to be able to manage the tyres as best as possible"

Max Verstappen

Russell saves Mercedes' day after Hamilton's elimination in Q2

At Mercedes the day was lived with mixed feelings: Hamilton's elimination in Q2 was avoidable, as it was caused by a strategic error within the Brackley team. Had Lewis completed his second run later in the manche, he would have benefited from a more rubbered track, and therefore capable of providing a better grip. Precisely that grip that he (as well as Perez) lacked, and which made the difference between advancing to Q3 and - in his case - being condemned to a difficult starting P11.

"The elimination in Q2 didn't completely surprise me, but I'm certainly not happy... Initially I thought I could progress into Q3, and clearly the car had the potential to do so. Tomorrow I'll give it my all and we'll see what we can do [...] Fourth place for George is an excellent job, he will start third on the grid!"

Lewis Hamilton

Luckily for Mercedes, however, Sainz's penalty will bring the situation back to substantially equal conditions on the grid, with two drivers in the front rows (Leclerc in P1 and Russell in P3) and the other two in the midfield (Hamilton in P10 and Sainz in P12).

And therefore, it was George Russell who saved the day for the English-German team: his final lap in Q3 puts Mercedes in an optimal position to score points in the race, which are fundamental above all in the fight for second position in the Constructors' Championship against Ferrari. At the moment, with 88 points still to be awarded, the advantage over their Maranello colleagues is 20 points: looking at the performances here in Las Vegas, one might think that unless there are any upheavals, Hamilton and Russell will have to play defense and take the duel to the last event in Abu Dhabi. Doing so will not be easy, because in the last GPs it seems that a real setback of the W14 has been triggered: whether it's fault of the chosen setups or the lack of updates is difficult to say, but the last Brazilian GP highlights this uncomfortable reality.

Francois Tremblay / Motorsport Images

A technical fact regarding Mercedes (and partly Williams): looking once again at the table of personal best split times, you can observe how the W14 was not very effective in S1 yet very fast in S3. Given that these are two sectors that are very similar in their layout, how can this be explained?

  • A possible reason could lie in the way in which the W14 looks after its tyres over the course of a push lap: it's plausible that, due to the higher downforce, the car doesn't "abuse" the tyres as much. However, I don't consider this to be a track on which significant differences in this sense can be deduced;
  • The reason that I believe to be the basis of the excellent performance in the S3 is the deployment strategy chosen: beyond the "overtake" button, which guarantees an extra dose of power "on demand", basically the power guaranteed by the MGU-K and MGU-H is predefined based on a control strategy, which each team develops before each Grand Prix with the clear objective of minimizing laptime. My idea, therefore, is that the strategy chosen by Mercedes in Las Vegas aims to obtain higher top speeds in the last two straights, sacrificing part of the overall laptime in favor of greater overtake possibilities in the event of a duel with other cars;

What a Williams on the straights of Las Vegas: double top ten finish, with Albon in P6 and Sargeant in P7!

We cannot conclude this analysis without mentioning the spectacular performance of the two Williams, to say the least, with Albon in P6 and Sargeant in P7 (after an embarassing streak of five qualifying sessions in last position). Both will gain a position on the starting grid, again by virtue of the oft-cited penalty of Sainz.

Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images

"I think we performed very well, although we're not really surprised because we knew we had a good car. The most important thing is to start reaping the benefits of all the hard work we've done and express the potential we've had even in the last few races. Being able to do it in three consecutive sessions was fantastic"

Logan Sargeant

The target of the two drivers of the Grove team, therefore, will be to compete in a race in which to bring home as many points as possible, to reject the comeback Alpha Tauri has been trying to carry out in the last two races. Will the monstrous top speed of the FW45 be enough? I think so, but to find it out - along with many other aspects that we haven't covered, such as the surprising Gasly or the terrible qualifying of the two McLarens - set your alarm at 7.00 CET tomorrow morning. Have a good race!

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