Ferrari fastest in Vegas with Leclerc taking pole, Sainz P2; Verstappen off his usual pace in P3, as shiny new street circuit & cool nighttime temps scramble field
Ferrari were unquestionably the fastest team at the brand new Las Vegas Street Circuit during midnight Saturday qualifying for Saturday night’s Las Vegas Grand Prix. Despite not really being a similar circuit, the Scuderia harkened back to their superior pace at Singapore earlier in the season, outpacing the usually dominant Red Bull of Max Verstappen. With the only real question being which of the two Prancing Horses would take pole, it was Charles Leclerc who bested teammate Carlos Sainz by a minuscule 0.044 seconds, but over three-tenths ahead of Verstappen’s best effort in Q3. Unfortunately for Sainz and Ferrari, though, the Spaniard will be assessed a ten-place grid penalty for the race after he sucked up a drain cover earlier in Free Practice 1, resulting in heavy damage to his car and the need to take a new battery outside his allotment for the year. It seems unfair that Sainz should be penalized for something completely out of his control and due to the teething issues any new street circuit is prone to encounter, but them’s the rules, as they say, and no dispensation was given by the FIA despite Ferrari’s appeals. So that demotes Sainz down to P12 despite his superb quali effort and moves Verstappen to P2 alongside Leclerc on the front row.
Despite that bit of good fortune, it was not a banner day for team Red Bull. A notably grumpy Verstappen struggled to come to grips with the Vegas layout and its new slick asphalt in the cool nighttime conditions, as many drivers up and down the field also did. Worse yet, the pit wall strategists for his teammate Sergio Perez made a major miscalculation when they boxed him prematurely in Q2 believing that his time was good enough to see him through to Q3. It was not and Perez had to sit stationary in the garage as the track improved and the final runners kicked him further and further down the order until he was out with only the twelfth best time. But the Red Bulls are certainly at least the second fastest cars and their long run race pace usually shines so, look for Verstappen to harass Leclerc for the lead and Perez to fight his way back towards the front as he did so well in Sao Paulo two weeks ago. And certainly look for the very quick Sainz to also charge up the order if passing is at all possible, which it should be going into Turn 14.
Behind the top three qualifiers, things got a bit shuffled up on the Strip. While Mercedes’ George Russell got on top of the virgin circuit well enough to take P4, teammate Lewis Hamilton struggled to turn on his tires and was unceremoniously bounced out in Q2 with a time only good enough for P11. Worse still was McLaren’s performance, with their cars so unsuited to the very high speed straights/slow speed corners layout that both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri failed to make it out of Q1, a shocking result after their recent excellent run of form. That opened the competition for the top ten places wide open and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly took full advantage to set the fifth fastest time in Q3. Likewise, Williams were rewarded for their elite straight-line speed, with Alexander Albon taking P6 and the usually poky American Logan Sergeant excelling under Vegas’s bright lights and the supernaturally cool Globe’s ever-changing projections to the tune of P7. Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas continued his strong end of season run in taking P8 and Haas’s Kevin Magnussen had a final lap good enough for P9. Fernando Alonso seemed to fall away in Q3 after looking stronger in the previous two quali sessions and ended up only good enough for P10.
Top 10 qualifiers for the Las Vegas GP:
| POS | DRIVER | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1:33.617 | 1:32.775 | 1:32.726 | |
| 2 | 1:33.851 | 1:33.338 | 1:32.770 | |
| 3 | 1:34.190 | 1:33.572 | 1:33.104 | |
| 4 | 1:34.137 | 1:33.351 | 1:33.112 | |
| 5 | 1:34.272 | 1:33.494 | 1:33.239 | |
| 6 | 1:34.634 | 1:33.588 | 1:33.323 | |
| 7 | 1:34.525 | 1:33.733 | 1:33.513 | |
| 8 | 1:34.305 | 1:33.809 | 1:33.525 | |
| 9 | 1:34.337 | 1:33.664 | 1:33.537 | |
| 10 | 1:34.422 | 1:33.617 | 1:33.555 |
Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.
The adjusted grid for the GP after Sainz’s penalty is here.
Saturday’s unusually late night race airs live on ESPN beginning at 10PM local Vegas time, 1AM Eastern here in the States. With a brand new and super fast street circuit, consistently cool desert night temps forecast and a scrambled field, anything could happen under the bright lights of the Strip — perhaps even Leclerc besting Verstappen for a win for the first time this year. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!